| 释义 |
▪ I. lap, n.1|læp|
Forms: 1 læppa, 3–7 lappe, 6 lapp, 4– lap.
[OE. lappa, læppa wk. masc. = OFris. lappa, OS. lappo (Essen gloss.), MDu. lappe (Du. lap), OHG. (with unexplained pp instead of pf) lappa fem. (MHG. lappe masc. and fem., mod.G. lappen masc.); cf. ON. lepp-r clout, rag, lock of hair.
App. the OTeut. type would be *lappon- with pp for earlier pn; the pre-Teut. root might be either *lop-, *lob-, or *lobh-. Scholars have variously suggested connexion with Gr. λόβος lobe (see sense 2 a below), with Skr. ramb-, lamb-, to hang loose, or with Lith. lópas patch.]
1. a. A part (of a garment or the like) either hanging down or projecting so as to admit of being folded over; a flap, lappet. In later use chiefly, a piece that hangs down at the bottom of a garment, one of the skirts of a coat, a portion of the skirt of a robe. Hence pl. (colloq.) a tail-coat.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxviii. 197 [Dauid] for⁓cearf his mentles ænne læppan [L. oram chlamydis]. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 101/29 And cam ant touchede þe lappe of ore louerdes cloþes ene. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 201 Wyth lappez large. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1356 Bi þe byȝt al of þe þyȝes, Þe lappez þay lance bi-hynde. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 399 (448) She hym a-gayn by þe lappe caughte. a1400Sir Beues 2456 (MS. S.) Þe Lyoun..with his teeþ..kitte a pece of his lappe. a1400Morte Arth. 3255 And with ladily lappes the lenghe of a ȝerde. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. li. (1869) 200 And hadde trussed hire lappes in hire girdel, redy..for to wrastle. c1460Emare 654 Her vysage she gan hyde, With the hynther lappes [of her surkote]. 1502Ord. Crysten Men ii. v. (W. de W. 1506) 95 Pryde is shewed in gownes, in furres, with sleues with syde lappes or plyted. 1530Palsgr. 237/2 Lappe or skyrt, gyron. 1535Coverdale Ezek. v. 3 Take a little off the same & bynde it in thy cote lappe. 1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. xi. 258 Their women..vpon their heades do vse a certeine attire,..wherof the one lappe so rangeth vpon whiche side semeth her good. 1583Satir. Poems Reform. xlv. 870 Who tuke him by the lap and lewch. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 638 The Ephod..had foure laps or wings. 1620in Gutch Coll. Cur. I. 172 They were never able to cut so much as the lap of her coat. 1637Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 200 Let me beseech your Lordship to draw by the lap of time's curtain and to look in thro' the window to great and endless eternity. a1656Hales Gold. Rem. (1688) 262 When David had cut off the lap of Saul's Garment. 17..Mary Myle xii. in Child Ballads (1889) III. 386 The lap cam aff her shoe. c1817Hogg Tales & Sk. III. 259 Wiped his eyes..with the lap of his plaid. 1824Scott Redgauntlet xi, With the lap of my cloak cast over my face. 1828― F.M. Perth viii, The..horseman's feet did not by any means come beneath the laps of the saddle. 1876Whitby Gloss., Laps, the skirts of a coat. 1878Mozley's Ess. I. Introd. 16 A little fellow in a jacket, which had to be exchanged for ‘laps’ before the examination.
fig.1651Coronat. Chas. II at Scoone 7 That we may be far from cutting of a lap of that just power..which God hath allowed to the King.
†b. transf. The outlying part (of an army). Cf. the use of ‘skirt’. Obs.
a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 314 The laird of Cesfurde..sett on fercelie wpoun the lape and winge of the laird of Balclucheis feild.
2. Applied to certain parts of the body:
a. of the ear, liver, lungs: = lobe. Obs. exc. in ear-lap. [A Com. Teut. sense.]
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 198 Sio [lifer] biþ on þa swiþran sidan aþened oþ þone neweseoþan sio hæfð fif læppan. 14..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 631/8 Lap of þe ere. 1538Elyot Dict., Fibræ, are the extreme partes of the liuer, the hart, or the lunges, or of other thinges wherin is any diuysyon, they maye be called lappes, brymmes. 1573Baret Alv. L 86 The lappes of the lights or lunges, fibræ pulmonis. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 402 The laps or fillets of the liver of a Mouse. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lix. (1739) 117 The Synod..decreed that men should cut their Hair so as their Eyes and laps of their Ears might be seen. 1658Rowlands Moufet's Theat. Ins. 912 The convulsion of the laps of the lungs (which useth to be a deadly disease). 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 799 The lap of the ear, lobus. 1722Ramsay Three Bonnets ii. 52 Require a thing I'll part wi' never! She's get as soon a lap o' my liver.
†b. A fold of flesh or skin; occas. the female pudendum. Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xiii. (MS. Bodl. 3738) In Siria beþ oxen þat haue no dewe lappis nother fresche lappes vnder þrote [L. palearia sub gutture]. c1420[see dewlap]. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 16 The two great tuskes..hauinge on euerye syde lappes hanging downe of the bignes of two hand brea[d]th. 1605Timme Quersit. i. xiii. 60 By reason of his soliditie and hardness inconcocted..it doth fret and teare the laps of the stomach. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 74 The female [is gelded] by searing her privy parts within the brim and laps thereof with a hot iron. 1615Crooke Body of Man 250 The Clitoris is a small body, not continuated at all with the bladder, but placed in the height of the lap.
†3. A piece of cloth, a cloth, clout. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 529 That he pryuely Sholde this child..winde and wrappe And carie it in a cofre or in a lappe. a1400Morte Arth. 3286 Nowe es lefte me no lappe my lygham to hele. c1460Towneley Myst. xxiv. 265 A lap..ffor-tatyrd and torne. 14..Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 227 For ich nabbe clout ne lappe.
4. The ‘lap’ (sense 1) of a garment used as a receptacle.
†a. The fold of a robe (e.g. the toga) over the breast, which served as a pocket or pouch; hence, the bosom.
In figurative use this sense is sometimes hardly to be distinguished from sense 5.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 284/229 In heore lappen huy brouȝten mete. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 273 In hus bosom he bar a thyng and that he blessede ofte. And ich loked in hus lappe, a lazar lay ther-ynne. c1400Sowdone Bab. 1800 Thai smyten of here hedes alle, Eche man toke one in his lappe. c1440Gesta Rom. lxix. 321 (Harl. MS.) Such ben to be put out of þe lappe of holy chirche. 1484Caxton Chivalry i. 6 He beganne to rede in a lytyl book that he had in his lappe. 1513Douglas æneis xi. xv. 19 Hys rych mantill, of quham the forbreist lappis..was buklit wyth a knot. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxxix. iv, [Your harvest] Filling neither reapers hand Nor the binders inbow'd lapp. 1600Holland Livy xxi. xviii. 403 Having made a hollow lap within the plait and fold of his side gowne. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §14. 31 It was the Christian Church which..did preserve in the sacred lappe and bosome thereof, the pretious Reliques even of Heathen learning. 1643Myst. Iniq. 3 He desires that the Prince of Wales might be brought backe againe into the lap of the Romish Church.
b. The front portion of a skirt when held up to contain or catch something.
13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 901 Ful he gaderede his barm, In his other lappe he gaderede some. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 433 She..heeld hir lappe abrood, for wel sche wiste The ffaukon moste fallen fro the twist. 1636Heywood Love's Mistress ii. i. Wks. 1874 V. 109 Hold up your lapps; tho' them you cannot see That bring this gold. 1848Lytton Harold i. i, Followed by girls with laps full of flowers. 1848A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850) 41 Some come dancing forward with flowers in their hands or in the lap of their robe.
c. A form of loin-cloth worn by Indians in Guyana.
1769E. Bancroft Ess. Nat. Hist. Guiana 273 This is called a lap, and is the ordinary covering of the Negroes also. 1876C. B. Brown Canoe & Camp Life Brit. Guiana 34 There were two Indians,..dressed in nature's garb, barring the ‘lap’. 1899J. Rodway In Guiana Wilds 254 A party of Indians in nothing but their laps. 192438th Ann. Rep. U.S. Bureau Amer. Ethnol. xxi. 439 To this belt or girdle..the apron or lap may be attached. Ibid. 443 Among the Wapishana, the length of the bark ‘lap’ (tururi) was..a guide to the importance of the wearer. 1958M. Swan Marches of El Dorado i. 56 An Indian in these parts would be ashamed to wear the bead apron or the red cotton lap of his parents; he cleans his teeth and brilliantines his hair.
5. a. The front portion of the body from the waist to the knees of a person seated, considered with its covering garments as the place in or on which a child is nursed or any object held.
c1275Lay. 30261 Com þar a bour-cniht and sat adun forþ riht..he nam þan kynges hefd and leyde vppe his lappe [earlier text in his bærm]. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 6766 Als a childe þat sittes in þe moder lappe. c1386Chaucer Prol. 686 His walet lay biforn hym in his lappe. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 283 Ich sauh hym [Lazarus] sitte..in Abraham's lappe. c1422Hoccleve Min. Poems (1892) 231 Streeche out anoon thy lappe, In which wole I myn heed doun leye and reste. c1440Gesta Rom. lxv. 286 (Harl. MS.) She late hit [a stone] fall in þe lappe of gwido. 1535Coverdale Prov. xvi. 34 The lottes are cast in to the lappe, but their fall stondeth in the Lord. 1605Shakes. Macb. i. iii. 3 A Saylors Wife had Chestnuts in her Lappe. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 1060 So rose..Herculean Samson from the Harlot-lap Of Philistean Dalilah. 1709Steele Tatler No. 15 ⁋2 She lays me upon my Face in her Lap. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 387 A child will never grow to vigorous manhood, who is kept always in his mother's lap. 1792C. Smith Desmond III. 125 Of those six [persons], three were infants in lap. 1832H. Martineau Ireland iii. 43 Dora had sunk down at her mother's feet, hiding her face in her lap. 1894Hall Caine Manxman vi. iii, The child lay outstretched on Grannie's lap.
b. transf. A hollow among hills.
1745Warton Pleas. Melanch. 253 Sunny vales In prospect vast their level laps expand. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk., Leg. Sleepy Hollow (1865) 416 A little valley, or rather lap of land, among high hills. 1847Le Fanu T. O'Brien 312 A little village lay in the lap of a hill. 1870F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 126 Edlingham church stands in a green lap of a vale. 1883Harper's Mag. Aug. 327/1 Two hundred miles west..lies Altoona, in the lap of the..Mountains.
c. fig. Freq. in such expressions as in fortune's lap, nature's lap, pleasure's lap; bred up, nursed, etc. in the lap of (luxury, etc.). † to lay in (a person's) lap: to thrust upon his notice. For in the lap of Providence, the future, the gods, cf. Gr. θεῶν ἐν γούνασι.
1531Elyot Gov. ii. iv, Lete yonge gentilmen haue often times tolde to them, and (as it is vulgarely spoken) layde in their lappes, how [etc.]. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. ii. 47 Who are the Violets now, That strew the greene lap of the new-come Spring? 1598Spenser Wks. (Grosart) I. 544 A Countrie of yor owne dominion, lying hard vnder the lapp of England. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle v. 2125, I luld a sleep in pleasures lap. 1617Hieron Wks. II. 266 He would..sleepe securely vpon the lap of Gods protection. 1646Hamilton Papers (Camden) 124 When they finde these wishes throwne in their lap, [they] will be apt enough to turne their sailes another way. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 1041 Flowers were the couch..Earth's freshest softest lap. 1712Prideaux Direct. Ch.-wardens (ed. 4) 105 There is in the Lap of Providence an appointed Time yet to come. 1726–46Thomson Winter 593 They pine beneath the brightest skies, In Nature's richest lap. 1742Young Nt. Th. i. 259 What Numbers, once in Fortune's Lap high-fed, Solicit the cold Hand of Charity! 1764Goldsm. Trav. 172 But winter lingering chills the lap of May. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 30 Nursed in the lap of indolence. 1797Godwin Enquirer ii. xii. 402 Bred up..in the lap of republican freedom. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. vi. 36 Brought up in the lap of luxury. 1803R. Hall Wks. (1833) I. 190 Freedom poured into our lap opulence and arts. 1806A. Duncan Nelson 317 A thorough seaman..nursed in the lap of hardship. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 217 The current of presents..flowed very naturally, and very copiously, into the lap of the strangers. 1820Keats Eve St. Agnes xv, Madeline asleep in lap of legends old. 1822Byron Werner ii. ii. 103 Rash, new to life, and rear'd in luxury's lap. 1884Pall Mall G. 10 May 1/2 These things, however, lie in the lap of the future. 1920‘Sapper’ Bull-Dog Drummond 23 Perhaps a year—perhaps six months... It is in the lap of the gods. 1965New Statesman 30 Apr. 674/3 Almost all power lies in the laps of the different Laender [in Germany]. 1971Guardian 27 Feb. 5/5 Lord Justice Davies said it was in the ‘lap of the gods’ what would be the effect on the younger children if they were ordered to go to their mother's home.
6.
†a. to fall into the lap or laps of: to come within the reach, or into the power, of. to be left in the laps: to be left in difficulties, ‘in the lurch’. (Lapse is sometimes written for laps, by confusion with lapse n.)
The origin of this use is somewhat obscure; it may be from sense 5; but cf. G. durch die lappen gehen, to escape, get clear off, where lappen means literally a contrivance for catching deer.
1558in Strype Ann. Ref. I. App. iv. 5 Clemency to be extended not before they do..acknowledge themselves to have fallen in the Lapse of the Law. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 153 b, In the retire they fel into the lappes of their ennemies. 1598R. Bernard Terence, Andria iii. v, Dost thou not see me left in the lapps thro' thy device and counsaile? 1602Warner Alb. Eng. ix. li. (1612) 230 They will exact by Torture what thou thinkest,..till in the Lapse thou fall. a1618Raleigh Rem. (1644) 122 Let them blame their own folly if they..fall head-long into the lap of endless perdition. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts v. (1704) 463/1 They cannot avoid falling into the lap of one of the other two [ships].
b. to drop, throw, etc., (something) in someone's lap: to shift a burden to (someone). Also (intr.) to drop into the lap of.
1962B. Knox Little Drops of Blood ii. 35 ‘And Sammy Bell's gear?’ ‘We'll dump that one in the lap of the Scientific boys.’ 1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 7 May (1970) 134, I showed Mr. Fosburgh the Winslow Homer painting and I think he was as amazed as I am that it should have so precipitously and happily dropped into our laps. 1970‘M. Hebden’ Mask of Violence (1971) xx. 187 I'll throw this into Pinow's lap. It's German and high-level, and I don't want to be mixed up in it. 1972V. Canning Rainbird Pattern ii. 33 Quite simply—and this is for you, Bush, because I'm dropping it in your lap—Trader has got to be scotched. 1973M. Woodhouse Blue Bone ii. 12, I went..to meet some people who had a development problem they wanted to drop in our laps.
7. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 5) † lap-child, lap-cloth, † lap-mantle, lap-spaniel (cf. lapdog), lap-thing; lap belt, a safety belt across the lap; lap-board, a board to lay on the lap, as a substitute for a table; lap-cock (see quot. 1848); lap-held a. = lap-top adj. below; also ellipt. as n.; lap-iron, a piece of iron used as a lapstone; † lap-lettuce, ? curly lettuce; † lap-lock = dewlap; lap-robe, a rug or cloth to cover the lap of a person seated in a vehicle; lap-shaver (see quot.); lap strap, a safety strap across the lap; lap-table = lap-board; lap-tea (U.S. local), a tea at which the guests take refreshments in their laps, not at a table; lap-top a. [after desk-top], (of a computer) small and light enough to be used on one's lap; = lap-held adj. above; also ellipt. as n. Also lap-dog, lapstone.
1952Los Angeles Examiner 21 Mar., Wider ‘*lap belts’ than those now used. 1959Sunday Graphic 25 Jan. 4/5 The easy-to-fit and unobtrusive ‘lap-belts’ which give 65 per cent of the protection afforded by the full harness. 1961B.S.I. News Mar. 7/1 Car safety belts,..three types..lap belt, diagonal strap and full harness. 1962A. Shepard in Into Orbit 114, I took off my lap belt and loosened my helmet. 1973Sci. Amer. Feb. 81/3 In the Utah statistics (from 1969) only 16.5 percent were wearing the seat belts; the estimate at present is that, notwithstanding all the urgings by authorities, only about 25 to 35 percent use the lap belt and only about 5 percent the lap-and-shoulder combination. 1974Country Life 31 Jan. 191/2 The cab..has a bench seat with diagonal belts for two and a further lap belt for a third occupant.
1840Picayune (New Orleans) 18 Sept. 2/3 Ashamed! why, I feel as flat as my own *lapboard. 1867A. D. Whitney Summer in L. Goldthwaite's Life vi. 125 On the lap-board across her knees lies her work. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Lap-board, a board resting on the lap and hollowed out on the side next the user. Employed by tailors and seamstresses to cut out work upon.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. iii. §3 Canterbury his servants dandled this *lap-childe with a witness.
1849Rock Ch. of Fathers I. v. 409 The *lap-cloth, under the name of ‘gremiale’, is still employed in our ritual. 1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur iv. xiv. (1884) 223 They laved their hands again, had their lapcloths shaken out.
1802Dubourdieu Statist. Surv. Down 125 It [grass] is made into small cocks called *lap-cocks. 1848Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 515 Lap-cocks, i.e...small heaps of the dimensions just capable of being taken up in the arms.
1984Sunday Times 26 Aug. 49/3 (heading) *Laphelds contend with luggables. 1985Daily Tel. 29 July 14/2 Then came the desk-top computer..and then..the lapheld micro. 1986What Micro? Nov. 101/1 Multi-user systems and lap-helds are listed separately.
1962Westm. Gaz. 8 Oct. 6/2 The lapstone and the *lap-iron have gone out of existence.
1796C. Marshall Garden. xx. (1813) 425 Small sallading and *lap lettuce..on a little heat.
1660Hexham Dutch Dict., Vaen, the Bullocks, or *Laplock of Oxen.
1603Q. Eliz. Wardr. in Leisure Hour (1884) 673/2, 18 *lappe mantles.
1875Mrs. Stowe We & Neighbors xxxix. 373 He took her to ride in such a stylish carriage, white lynx *lap-robe, and all! 1914G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. 121 He smiled..into her..eyes and tucked the lap-robe about her. 1948Chicago Tribune 15 Jan. 3/2, I loved the sleighrides too—snuggled under great buffalo hide lap robes. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions iii. iv. 846 Engulfed in the flow of a tartan lap robe..he stared fixedly at an open book. 1974‘I. Drummond’ Power of Bug xvi. 220 The thin cotton lap-robe which protected the passenger's legs and feet from the dust.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Lap-shaver, a machine for shaving leather to a thickness... The term is derived from the old practice of shaving away inequalities by means of a knife while the leather is laid upon a board in the lap.
1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4144/4 A *Lap Spaniel..Bitch.
1960Guardian 22 July 20/2 For rear seat passengers a *lap strap is probably sufficient. 1961Times 10 Jan. 6/6 If the ordinary lap strap..is used, an occupant of the car will tend to ‘jack knife’ forward. 1968A. Diment Gt. Spy Race ix. 165, I did up the lap strap [on a seat in a passenger aircraft] and went straight to sleep.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Lap table, a sewing or cutting-out table, supported in or over the lap.
1866Lowell Biglow P. Introd., Poems 1890 II. 197 *Lap-tea: where the guests are too many to sit at table.
1740J. Miller Mahomet ii. ii, Shall enervating contagious love..make a *lapthing of me?
1984Fortune 28 May 75/1 Led by Tandy's four-pound Radio Shack Model 100..the *lap-tops are selling briskly. 1984Byte Nov. 105/1 Laptop portables such as Gavilan were stealing the show. 1986Guardian 14 Apr. 22/5 Laptops are battery-powered micros about the size of a telephone book, with small LCD screens and typewriter-style keyboards. 1986What Micro? Nov. 6/3 Unusually for a laptop machine, provision is made to add an 8087 maths co-processor.
Add:[2.] c. A breast of lamb, esp. when cut deep as in Scotland, Ireland, and parts of northern England; also, flank of beef.
1922Joyce Ulysses 154 Remember when we got home raking up the fire and frying up those pieces of lap of mutton for her supper with the Chutney sauce she liked. 1979Lore & Lang. Jan. 27 Lap [of beef]. Ibid. 29 Lap of lamb.
[7.] lap desk orig. and chiefly N. Amer., a portable writing-case or writing surface, esp. one designed to be used on the lap.
1937E. D. & F. Andrews Shaker Furnit. 92 The frames of Shaker *lap-desks are pine. 1971J. G. Shea Amer. Shakers & their Furnit. vii. 159 The slant-lid lap desk, which was made at New Lebanon around 1850, is believed to have been used by Eldress Emma Neale. 1984New Yorker 12 Nov. 150/1 (Advt.), Keep your desk close at hand with this updated version of the classic lap desk.
lap portable n., a lap-top computer.
1983Practical Computing Dec. 88/2 Ian Stobie visited Olivetti's U.K. headquarters to get the feel of its new Japanese-built *lap portable. 1984Listener 9 Aug. 35/3 The ‘lap portable’ is a computer the size of a home micro, but incorporating its own small screen and a memory that will retain data even when the machine is switched off. 1986Practical Computing Oct. 63/1 The Z-181 and Convertible are aimed at the real lap-portable market of journalists, academics, travelling salespersons and suchlike.
▸ lap dance n. orig. U.S. an erotic dance or striptease performed close to, or while sitting on the lap of, a paying customer in a strip club, etc.; cf. table dance n. at table n. Compounds 3.
1986San Francisco Chron. (Electronic ed.) 16 Aug. Prostitution and other charges were filed against dancers for various acts, including performing ‘*lap dances’ while sitting on customers. 1995Spy (N.Y.) July 44/1 Moore researched her character by going to strip clubs, where she paid for private lap dances and left generous tips for her sister feminists. 2000Independent 18 Apr. 16/2 The strippers also performed lap dances, and..the police had twice come into the club and witnessed direct physical contact between the barely clad employees and the customers.
▸ lap dance v. orig. U.S. (intr.) to perform a lap dance.
1992Regardie's Mag. Nov. 38 August magazines..describe New York and Houston strippers ‘*lap dancing’ (gyrating on a tabletop and ultimately ending up in the patron's lap) for visiting Democratic and Republican conventioneers. 1996Village Voice (N.Y.) 21 May 28/3 We can turn down anyone who asks for a lap dance, or we don't have to lap dance at all. 2001Mirror (Electronic ed.) 4 July Stag night? He went to Amsterdam where he lap danced naked on stage.
▸ lap dancer n. orig. U.S. a performer of lap dances (usually a woman); cf. table dancer n. at table n. Compounds 3.
1988H. S. Thompson Generation of Swine 20 A male stripper..was marrying a *lap dancer from the O'Farrell Theatre. 2001Times 31 Aug. ii. 21/5 Helen.., a lap dancer and fitness instructor, struts her stuff every night at Raymond's Revue Bar in the capital.
▸ lap dancing n. orig. U.S. the action or practice of performing a lap dance; cf. table dancing n. at table n. Compounds 3.
1983‘Lap Dancing—Private Rooms Available’ in net.flame (Usenet newsgroup) 14 Nov. Being chicken, I never did check it out. But please could someone in Orlando tell me what *lap dancing is? 1995Guardian 18 Dec. ii. 8 (heading) Lap dancing has taken America's clubs by storm—and now the personalised strip show has arrived here. 1997N.Y. Mag. 5 May 28/1 Lap dancing is a relatively new branch of adult entertainment, but its roots predate World War I.
▪ II. lap, n.2|læp|
Also 4 lappe.
[f. lap v.1]
1. Something that is lapped.
a. Liquid food for dogs. Also slang and dial., any weak beverage or thin liquid food (cf. catlap).
b. slang. Drink, liquor in general.
a.1567Harman Caveat 83 Lap, butter milke or whey. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Lap, Pottage, Butter-milk, or Whey. c1700Street Robberies Consider'd, Lap, Spoon-meat. a1754Fielding Jon. Wild i. xiv, As when their lap is finished, the cautious huntsman to their kennel gathers the nimble-footed hounds. 1781P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 50* If your hounds are low in flesh, and have far to go to cover, they may all have a little thin lap again in the evening. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Lap, thin broth or porridge; weak tea, &c. 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., ‘Call this here tay! I calls it lap’.
b.1618Hornby Scourge Dronk. (1859) 17 Hee which will not take his lap downe free, Lap, so they terme it, such as dogs do vse. 1623J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. (1630) ii. 29 They will..inforce mee to drinke..with such a deale of complementall oratory, as off with your Lap, Wind vp your Bottome [etc.]. a1625Beaum. & Fl. Bonduca i. ii, A pretty valiant fellow, Die for a little lap and lechery? 1641Brome Jovial Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 388 Here's Pannum and Lap. 1725New Cant. Dict., Lap..also strong Drink of any Sort. 1815Scott Guy M. xxviii, The gentry..would have given baith lap and pannel to ony poor gypsey. 1865Slang Dict., Lap, liquor, drink.
2. The action or an act of lapping; so much as may be taken up thus; a lick, smack, taste. Also fig.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 37 What man þat loueþ mede..He shal lese for hure loue a lappe of trewe charite. 1820Mrs. Piozzi Let. 9 June, Mr. Iveson will have a Lap of the Pellegrini Picture. a1837Beddoes Sec. Brother i. i, These veiny pipes hold a dog's lap of blood. 1860Holme Lee Leg. Fairy Land 77 He persuaded them [two puppies] to take a lap at his breakfast.
3. A sound resembling that of lapping; e.g. that produced by wavelets on the beach.
1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan 43 Only the lap of the rippling wave Broke on the hush of their solitude. 1889A. E. Barr Feet of Clay iv. 64 The lazy whish and lap of the ocean.
▪ III. lap, n.3|læp|
[f. lap v.2]
†1. ? Something wrapped up; a bundle. Obs.
1673New Jersey Archives (1880) I. 132 In token whereof they presented about 20 deer skins, 2 {at} 3 laps of Beaver, and 1 string of Wampum.
2. a. The amount by which one thing overlaps or covers a part of another; hence concr. the overlapping part.
1800Trans. Soc. Arts XVIII. 377 Stopping the apertures between the laps of glass with putty. 1808Pike Sources Mississ. ii. (1810) 194 note, Those logs were joined together by a lap of about two feet at each end. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 399 All kinds of slate have a lap of each joint, generally equal to one-third of the length of the slate. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 128 Laps, the remaining part of the ends of carlings, &c. which are to bear a great weight or pressure, such as the capstan-step. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. ii. 39 The laps of the outer keel-plate and garboard..require the usual double row [of rivets]. 1895Jrnl. R. Inst. Brit. Archit. 14 Mar. 351 The roof should..have a lap of at least 3½ inches of tiles. 1897Daily News 10 May 5/5 The hand-made cigarette..having a smaller ‘lap’.
b. half-lap: an arrangement for the joining of rails, shafts, etc., consisting in cutting away half the thickness of each of the two ends to be joined, and fitting them together. Also attrib.
1816Specif. Losh & Stephenson's Patent No. 4067. 6 The half lap joinings of the rails. 1825N. Wood Railroads (1838) 42 [The rails] are now formed with a half-lap. 1875Carpentry & Join. 71 The half lap dovetail..has this one advantage, that [etc.].
c. Steam-engine. The distance traversed by a slide-valve beyond what is needed to close the passage of steam to or from the cylinder.
1869E. Malbon in Eng. Mech. 3 Dec. 282/2 Ascertain if they have had equal lap on the steam and exhaust side. 1881J. W. Aston in Metal World No. 18. 274 The amount that these faces overlap the steam-ports being termed the lap of the valve. 1895Mod. Steam Eng. 38 The lap of the slide being equally divided.
d. U.S. ‘Any portion of a railroad track used in common by the trains of more than one system’ (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1893).
e. Metallurgy. A kind of defect that results when a projecting part is folded over against the surface of the metal and pressed in (e.g. during rolling or forging), so that a seam is produced on the surface.
1914W. Rosenhain Introd. Study Physical Metall. xiv. 324 ‘Laps’, ‘rokes’, etc.,..result from the partial welding up of fissures or of portions of metal which have become accidentally overlapped. 1939E. C. Rollason Metall. for Engineers iv. 55 A defect, somewhat similar to a roke, is caused by poor roll design or by rolling at too low a temperature. The metal spreads to an extent greater than the designed pass and forms fins on opposite sides of the bar, which in subsequent passes are lapped over to give the lap illustrated. 1967E. Bishop tr. M. van Lancker's Metall. Aluminium Alloys viii. 238 Working may scratch the metal and result in corrosion damage.., or form laps..tears..and excessive work-hardening.
3. Euchre. (See quot.)
1886Euchre: how to play it iii. 40 The Lap game may be played by two, three, or four persons, when they agree to play a series of games, so that the lap may be applied, which is simply counting upon the score of the ensuing game all the points made over and above the five of which the game consists.
4. a. A layer or sheet (usually wound upon a bobbin or roller) into which cotton, wool, or flax is formed in certain stages of its manufacture.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 381 The cotton is in this state called a lap. 1888J. Paton Wool in Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 658 The wool [for felted cloth] is scribbled or carded out into a uniform lap of extreme thinness. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 163 The scutcher turns out the fibre in a thick fleecy mat, or ‘lap’, which is wound round a roller.
b. Warp Knitting. A loop of yarn on a needle.
1884W. T. Rowlett tr. Willkomm's Technol. Framework Knitting I. i. 41 Each warp thread is also laid over a needle and forms the ‘lap’ over one. 1884, etc. [see knock-off n. and a. B. 2 a]. 1926J. Chamberlain Hosiery, Yarns & Fabrics vii. 173 The knock-off stitch is often used to produce pure longitudinal stripes on warp knitted fabrics in which case the pressed lap is always made on the same needle and only the knock-off lap..is traversed to effect a lateral joining. 1952D. F. Paling Warp Knitting Technol. i. 5 Assuming that two fully threaded guide bars are used, then each needle will be provided with two threads across its beard. These laps may be in similar directions or in opposite directions according to the relative directions of the overlaps. 1964H. Wignall Knitting ii. 44 The needles are then raised to move the laps below the beards.
5. a. The act of encircling, or the length of rope required to encircle, a drum or wheel. Also, enough of silk, thread, etc., to go once round something.
1867W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 163 A large vertical cylinder..16, 18, or even 20 feet in diameter at the first lap of the rope. 1867F. Francis Angling iv. (1880) 134 It should be tied by a lap or two of silk. 1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., Lap..(4) a single turn of a rope or chain around a barrel.
b. Racing. One of the number of turns round the track, that are required to complete the course.
1861Chamb. Jrnl. 23 Nov. 333 They had gone fourteen ‘laps’ (as these circuits are technically called). 1870R. Burn Rome 297 The number of laps was usually seven. 1884Dickens' Dict. Lond. 27/2 A running track, three laps to the mile. 1894Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life II. 155 Having measured off the requisite number of laps to the mile on the gravel walks in our kitchen-garden.
6. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 2) lap-boarded, lap-butt, lap-carling, lap-dovetail, lap-dovetailing, lap-jointed, lap-seam; lap-weld n. and vb.; (sense 4) lap-bobbin, lap-cylinder, lap-drum, lap-head, lap-machine, lap-roller, lap-tenter; (sense 5 b) lap-scorer, lap-sprint, lap time. Also lap-dissolve v., = dissolve v. 7 b; lap-joint (see quot. 1847); hence lap-join v. trans., to join by means of a lap joint; lap-system (see quot.); lap winding Electr. Engin., a kind of armature winding in which the two ends of each coil are connected to adjacent commutator segments, so that each coil overlaps the next; † lap-yard, the part of a roll of cloth which forms the outside wrapper. Also lap-streak.
1927Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 597/2 *Lap-boarded houses which overhang the sea.
1892Daily News 9 Sept. 6/1 The shell plating..is fitted on the *lap-butt principle.
1874Thearle Naval Archit. 47 When these carlings are required to resist an upward instead of the ordinary downward thrust, they..lap over the under side of the beams, in which case they are termed *lap carlings.
1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 263 This felt or lap is delivered to a wooden *lap-cylinder.
1927Observer 17 Apr. 3 No sooner has it [sc. the title] been read than it *lap-dissolves into the director's name... It should be lap-dissolved in for a mere flash. [1934H. M. Harwood Old Folks at Home i. i. 21 Sometimes the next picture's on before the last one's gone{ddd}lap{ddd}dissolve{ddd}isn't it?] 1962Sunday Times 5 Aug. 20/4 The Stranger: All right, pardon me for living, it's just you looked so much like this very attractive party I met down here last year. (Lap dissolve to what may be the following day.)
1847Smeaton Builder's Man. 89 Fig. 24 represents the pin part of a *lap-dovetail.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 588 *Lap dovetailing conceals the dovetail, but shews the thickness of the lap on the return side.
1902T. Thornley Cotton Combing Machines 17 The six webs are..drawn by frequent pairs of press rollers to the *lap-head, consisting of two pairs of heavily weighted press rollers..and of the lap drums.
1968J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts vi. 116 The arrangement is to have a ‘V’ on one side and an inverted ‘V’ on the other, the apex of which is *lap-joined flush with the top rail.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 164 Folding doors, which meet together upon a *lap-joint. 1847Smeaton Builder's Man. 93 In a lap-joint, that is, in lapping two pieces together, supposing them of equal thickness, half the substance of each should be cut away. 1874Thearle Naval Archit. 113 The bulkheads..are connected by single-riveted lap joints and butts.
Ibid., Liners are required behind the stiffeners by the *lap-jointed system.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 209/1 Carding engines, *lap⁓machines or doublers [etc.].
1850Rep. Comm. Patents 1850 (U.S.) 160, I also claim the combination of burring apparatus..with the calender and *lap rollers.
1896Westm. Gaz. 25 July 5/2 At one corner outside the track a little shed is filled with the ‘*lap-scorers’.
1905Westm. Gaz. 21 Mar. 5/1 He says the explosion was caused by a crack in the *lap-seam [of the boiler]. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts iv. 77 Bronze vessels of (riveted) sheet metal could be made perfectly watertight, even when the edges were joined by a simple lap seam.
1886Cyclist 25 Aug. 1174/1 Fenlon, by a fine *lap sprint, landed a winner by five yards.
1894Gloss. Terms Evidence R. Comm. Labour 51/2 in Parl. Papers 1893–4 (C. 7063) XXXVIII. 411 *Lap System, also called ‘trip system’, is a system (in the carter's industry) of piece-work, e.g., a driver taking loads of coal a given distance for a stated sum, works under the lap system.
1881Instructions to Census Clerks (1885) 68 *Lap Tenter. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) 164/2 Lap tenter (cotton).
1909Westm. Gaz. 7 Dec. 5/1 The net *lap times of the Auvergne races of 1905. 1973Times 28 Apr. 7/2 Both he and his team-mate, François Cevert, were later able to equal Regazzoni's lap time.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Lap-weld (Forging), a weld in which the welding edges are thinned down, lapped, and welded.
a1901Mod. Catal., The tubes are *lapwelded.
1892S. P. Thompson Dynamo-Electr. Machinery (ed. 4) xii. 311 When we go on to those cases in which the winding is entirely exterior to the core, as for drum armatures, or to those in which there is no core at all, namely for disk armatures, we find that there are two distinct modes of procedure, which we may respectively denote as *lap-winding and wave-winding. 1937A. S. Langsdorf Theory Alternating-Current Machinery v. 295 The end connections of a distributed winding may be arranged in several ways, all electrically identical... The order of grouping and the resultant shape of the coils give rise to the respective designations of spiral, lap, and wave windings. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIV. 505/2 Lap windings are adapted to high-current machines because they may have more than two parallel paths, whereas the wave windings are adapted to small-capacity machines and high-voltage machines because of the series connection of the coils.
1733P. Lindsay Interest Scot. 93 No Part of it [Linen Cloth] worse than the *Lap-yard or outside Cover.
Add:[5.] [b.] lap of honour, an additional, celebratory circuit of the track, completed by the victor after a race. Also fig.
1952Cycling 7 Aug. 132/2 He took his bouquet and lap of honour. 1955J. B. Wadley's ‘Coureur’ Winter 39/3, I saw Andre Lemoine ride two laps of honour on that day. 1968J. Lock Lady Policeman xvii. 147, I trailed after her on her lap of honour like Little Orphan Annie behind the ‘It’ girl. 1987Guardian 31 Aug. 17/2 The Canadian raced into his lap of honour. 1989Times 30 Sept. 11/1 Their candidate..would have been accorded a lap of honour at next week's party conference.
c. transf. A part of a journey or other endeavour. last lap: see last a. 5 a.
1932Discovery Dec. 393/1 We learned that weather conditions there had improved and that, for the last lap, we might expect better flying conditions. 1957P. White Voss v. 100 This ship..would carry the party on the first and gentle lap of their immense journey. 1987R. Ingalls End of Tragedy 180 The next lap was a good deal harder. 1988Washington Post 17 Mar. d1/1 The company comes to us on the first lap of an extended tour.
[6.] (sense 2) lap-weld n. and v.: so lap-welded a.
1848Mechanics' Mag. XLVIII. 287 (Advt.), *Lap-welded iron tubes. 1950Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CLXIV. 493/1 The manufacture of lap-welded pipe is described.
lap-dissolve v.: hence lap-dissolve n.
1927H. C. McKay Handbk. Motion Picture Photogr. xiv. 219 The first scene appears to melt and flow together and from the wreck arises the new scene. This was the original conception of the lap dissolve. 1979Farmington (New Mexico) Daily Times 27 May (Entertainment Suppl.) 17/5 David and Margaret..make love in quaint little country inns in scenes of lap-dissolve close-ups. 1986N.Y. Times 4 May ii. 19/3 She [sc. Elizabeth Taylor] is a lap-dissolve of dozens of contradictory images.
▸ Swimming. One defined stage of a course, typically one or two lengths of a swimming pool. Cf. length n. 4d.
1883Times 24 Dec. 10/7 Beckwith..left the water after swimming 3 miles 21 laps, being at the time 7 laps to the bad. 1890M. Cobbett Swimming xv. 52 In so necessarily limited a space the swimmer finds himself constrained to interrupt his stroke as he reaches each end of the bath, to turn before starting on a fresh lap. 1956Times 12 Dec. 3/3 The Australians..believe in an extensive amount of slow swimming, sometimes completing some 20 laps before a 100 metres race. 1985Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 27 Apr. Today he plans to raise $10,000 by swimming 3000m (120 laps of the pool). 2004Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 21 July b6 Mr. Miller traveled the world, and he enjoyed swimming laps in his health club's pool until a few months before his death.
▪ IV. lap, n.4|læp|
[Of obscure etymology; perh. a use of prec., as the original tool may have been a ‘lap’ or wrapping of cloth or leather.]
a. A rotating disk of soft metal or wood, used to hold polishing powder in cutting or polishing gems or metal.
1812–16J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 35 In the manufacture of cutlery, the use of the stone is followed by that of the lap or glazor. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 29 The blade being properly ground, is then glazed..by applying it to the lap. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 212 A soft steel lap at first and afterwards a zinc one are generally used. 1888Sheffield Gloss., Lap, a wooden wheel with a leaden surface used to glaze razors.
b. A polishing tool of some relatively soft material (as lead or cast iron) made to a special shape for use in lapping (see lap v.4).
1881Greener Gun 238 The lap is fixed into a head revolving 650 times a minute. The barrel is moved backwards and forwards upon the lap. 1886Walsingham & Payne-Gallwey Shooting I. 71 The polisher, or ‘lap’, as it is called, consists of an iron rod round which is secured a leaden plug the exact size of the tube. 1905W. S. Leonard Machine-Shop Tools & Methods (ed. 3) xxxi. 506 The laps described above are of the simplest and cheapest forms, namely, a plain shaft for the internal, and a collar for the external, lap. 1920Oberg & Jones Gage Design vii. 191 Laps for Ring Gages.—Three laps are shown in Fig. 15 for lapping ring gages... They are made of cast iron and are ground to fit the ring gage to be lapped. Grinding the thread on a lap will insure accuracy. 1932Hardy & Perrin Princ. Optics xvi. 338 The exposed surface of the blank is then ground by holding it against another tool, called a lap, which has previously been given the proper radius of curvature. The lap is rotated at a moderate speed on a vertical shaft and is fed with a mixture of coarse emery and water. 1942A. F. Collins Greatest Eye in World ii. 43 A concave iron lap is then placed over the lenses on the head and the spindle is rotated by an electric motor.
▪ V. lap, v.1|læp|
Forms: α. 1 lapian, 4–6, 8 Sc. lape, 5–6 Sc. laip, 9 Sc. lepe. β. 4–6 lappe, 4– lap.
[OE. lapian = MLG. and MDu. lapen, OHG. laffan; cf. Icel. lepja; the OTeut. root *lap- (cogn. w. L. lambĕre, Gr. λάπτειν to lick, lap) is represented also by OHG. leffil, mod.G. löffel spoon. The normal representative of the OE. word is the obsolete lape; the form lappe, lap may be due to the influence of F. laper (an adoption of the Teut. word).]
†1. intr. To take up liquid with the tongue. In OE. const. on, in early mod.Eng. in. Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 184 Gebeorh þæt hie..neaht nestiᵹe lapien on huniᵹ. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1434 Let þise ladyes of hem lape. 1390Gower Conf. III. 215 What man that hath the water nome Up in his hande and lappeth so, To thy part chese out alle tho. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab. xii. (Wolf & Lamb) i, [The lamb] In the streme laipit to cuill his thrist. c1570Marr. Wit & Science iv. iii. D iij, Alas why hath she this delite to lap in giltles blode? 1607Shakes. Timon iii. vi. 95 Vncouer Dogges, and lap. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §286 (1810) 296 Cattle accustomed to drink or lap. 1721Ramsay On a Punch-bowl 7 Take up my Ladle, fill, and lape. 1731Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 172 And then he lapped again, but could not stand on his Legs.
2. a. trans. Of animals, rarely of human beings: To take up (liquid, rarely food) with the tongue; to drink greedily up (like an animal). Also with up.
a1340Hampole Psalter lxvii. 25 Berkand agayn wickidnes & lapand watire of grace. 1382Wyclif Judg. vii. 5 Thilk that with hoond and with tonge lapen the watris. 1481Caxton Reynard xvi. (Arb.) 34 There lerned I fyrst to lapen of the bloode. 1513Douglas æneis x. x. 44 Thyr sey monstreis..[sal] lape thy blude thar hungeir to asswage. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 288 They'l take suggestion, as a Cat laps milke. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 799 They lap up their meat, what they eat. 1709Steele Tatler No. 40 ⁋9 He had the Cholick last Week with lapping sour Milk. 1735Somerville Chase i. 155 Soon as the growling Pack..Have lapp'd their smoaking Viands. 1813Hogg Queen's Wake 177 He baitit the lyon to diedis of weir, Quhill he lepit the blude to the kyngdome deire. 1819Moore Tom Crib (ed. 3) 21 Up he rose in a funk, lapp'd a toothful of brandy, And to it again. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 384 Some basons of water for washing were suffered to pass... The jurymen, raging with thirst, soon lapped up the whole. 1871Rossetti Poems, Eden Bower xlix, The soul of one shall be made thy brother, And thy tongue shall lap the blood of the other.
b. U.S. Of a bear: to gather and eat fruits or nuts. Hence lapping-season.
1868Amer. Naturalist May 122 They climb in order to ‘lap’, as the hunter says. Ibid., When mast is not plenty, they lap black-gum berries. 1881Scribner's Mag. Oct. 858/2 This is called the lapping season, as he ensconces himself in a tree lap and breaks the limbs to pieces, in gathering nuts and fruits.
c. to lap up: (fig.) to receive (praise, news, etc.) eagerly.
1890A. James Diary 20 May (1964) 119 Where do you suppose they have discovered Self-Sacrifice now? In the heroic bosom of Stanley! who on his own showing laps up the agréments of African travel as I do my afternoon tea. 1922S. Lewis Babbitt xxx. 359, I was simply astonished, the way those women lapped it up! 1930D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 493 People wallow in emotion: counterfeit emotion. They lap it up: they live in it and on it. 1931G. Atherton Sophisticates ii. xix. 210 ‘Polly, of all women, to start such a thing!’ muttered Emerey. ‘Or Toddles, for that matter. I've found out it was she who fed Polly with the idea of doing something new and strange. Of course she lapped it up.’ 1958Listener 20 Nov. 815/1 The Indian Embassy in Bonn will lap up information about Eastern Germany. 1972Times 20 Apr. 25/1 Americans have lapped the book up, already getting through Dell's first order of 100,000.
†3. To suck (a teat). Obs. rare—1.
1562T. Phaer æneid viii. C cj b, Their mammies teats thei lap wt hungrie lipps.
4. intr. Of water: To move with a rippling sound like that made in lapping. Also with in, up.
1823Scott Peveril xxxvi, Flinty steps,..against which the tide lapped fitfully with small successive waves. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xxii, You'd think that the water was lapping in right among us. 1842Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 116, I heard the water lapping on the crag. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxiii. 384 The sea lapped around the boat. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. 152 The water..lapping up, or lashing, under breeze, against the terrace wall.
5. trans. To beat upon (the shore, etc.) with a lapping sound.
1854Mrs. Gaskell North & S. vii, The distant sea, lapping the sandy shore with measured sound. 1874Longfellow Cadenabbia iv, I..hear the water..lapping the steps beneath my feet. 1883E. C. Rollins New Eng. Bygones 59 Where was a rotting old boat, which the waves lapped lazily.
▪ VI. lap, v.2|læp|
Forms: 4–6 lappe, 4–5 wlappe, 5–6 lape, 4– lap.
[Not in OE. or in any other Teut. lang.; first recorded c 1200–1225 in the compound bi-lappe, bi-leppe. Prob. f. lap n.1 in the sense ‘fold’ or ‘piece of cloth’. The perplexing form wlappe (Wyclif, Pecock) is prob. not original, but due to the influence of the synonymous wrap v.; it is hardly likely that OF. vloper, veloper, voloper can have contributed to the change of form.]
1. a. trans. To coil, fold, wrap (a garment, or anything supple). Const. about, in, † on, † over, round, † to, † until; also with about, round advs.
a1300Sarmun xxxix. in E.E.P. (1862) 5 In to þis world..he broȝte a stinkind felle i-lappid þer an. a1350St. Laurence 194 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 110 Iren plates he gert þam glew And lap until his sides ay new. 1390Gower Conf. II. 268 That yonge fresshe quene That mantel lapped her aboute. c1440Gesta Rom. vii. 17 (Harl. MS.) She lappid hire taile aboute þe corde of the belle. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. Prol. 3 Paill Aurora..Her russat mantill..Lappit about the heuinly circumstance. 1569Newton Cicero's Olde Age 38 a, The vine..lappeth it selfe fast, to what soever it commeth neare. 1578Banister Hist. Man i. 19 Nature hath in such wise lapped, and fastened to the tooth [of the Vertebra] a solid Ligament. 1600Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 497 The frier lapping a garmente about his arme [etc.]. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. 18 Hammer the Plate that is lap'd over the wyre close to the wyre. 1704Swift T. Tub xi, He would lap a Piece of it about a Sore Toe. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 121 This is lapped round the rest of the body. 1832Blackw. Mag. XXXI. 625 Lapping the skirts..about the little feet. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 215 After they are bleached..they are lapped round in great lengths of several pieces. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers II. 140 Its upper roll, instead of being lapped about, was kept fastened in its place..by a golden pin. 1859Tennent Ceylon II. viii. v. 363 They..mutually entwined their trunks, lapped them round their limbs and neck.
transf.c1470Henry Wallace ix. 146 The wer schippis was lappyt thaim about. 1513Douglas æneis ii. x. 201 About my feit My spous lappit fell doun into the ȝet.
b. intr. for refl. Const. about, round. Now rare exc. dial.
1563Homilies ii. Agst. Disobedience & Rebel. iv. (1859) 577 A great tree..caught him by..his goodly hair, lapping about it as he fled. 1680Vind. Reforming Clergy (ed. 2) 16 This is a fine pliable principle..'twill lap about your finger like Barbary Gold. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 1 Apr., This [dress]..laps all round them, not unlike a riding-hood. 1845Sir W. Napier Conq. Scinde ii. vi. 387 The two regiments thus opposed, lapped round the nearest point of the houses. 1883Almondbury Gloss., Lap, the end of a piece of cloth, which in weaving laps round the low beam.
†2. To fold, fold up, together; to roll up in successive layers. Const. into. Obs. or dial.
1390Gower Conf. II. 320 She wafe a cloth of silke all white..And lapped it together. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xciv. (1495) 661 The leues of Lappates ben..wonderly wrallyd and lappyd. a1400–50Wars Alex. 4568 Quen he had lokid on þe lyne he lappid it to-gedire. 1548–77Vicary Anat. iv. (1888) 30 This Piamater deuideth the substaunce of the Brayne, and lappeth it into certen selles or diuisions. 1561J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 95 As a booke lapped vp together. a1568R. Ascham Let. to E. Raven, That he may both see news &c. largely told, and also learn to lap up a letter. 1641H. Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 22 To give charge that in lapping up a fleece, they allwayes putte the inne side of the fleece outwardes. 1678Duchess of Newcastle in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 330 Since I lapt up my letter I writ this. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 347 Bulls' hides joined, and lapped and rolled one over another. c1790J. Imison Sch. Art II. 80 A..clean linen rag lapped up.
fig.1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) IV. 401 Lapping up (among a bundle of other misfortunes) this evill chance.
3. a. To enfold in a wrap or wraps, to enwrap, swathe; hence, to clothe, to bind up, tie round. Const. in, † with, † within. Also with † in, over, round, up. to lap on: to attach or fix on with a lapping of thread or the like. † to lap in lead: to place in a leaden coffin; hence, to entomb.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 175 Alle þyn oþer lymez lapped ful clene, Þenne may þou se þy sauior. c1325Kyng & Hermyt 289 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 24 Go to slepe, And I schall lape thee with my cope. c1340Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 5 Laid in a crib and lappid in clathis. 1382Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 59 The body taken, Ioseph wlappide [1388 lappide] it in a clene sendel. a1400Morte Arth. 2300 They..bawmede þaire honourliche kynges,..Lappede them in lede. c1450ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 170 Lappe hem [warts] in wort leues. 1530Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 292 Unto every ij or iij gud and discreit women that wyndes and lappis my body in one sheit..iiijd. 1578Lyte Dodoens iii. iii. 317 The seede, lapped as it were in a certaine white wooll. 1601Dent Pathw. Heaven 376 Christ Iesus..will swaddle you, and lappe you. 1608Middleton Mad World ii. ii. 44 Let him trap me in gold, and I'll lap him in lead. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 60 With a malet in the one hand, & a plug lapped in Okum..in the other. 1685R. Burton Eng. Emp. Amer. iv. 83, I shewed the Captain and his Wife my Fingers, who..bid me lap it up again. 1727Swift Gulliver ii. i, I..laid myself at full length upon the handkerchief, with the remainder of which he lapped me up to the head. 1780Phil. Trans. LXX. App. 3 This brush is again lapped round with thread. 1817Scott Harold i. xx, The good old Prelate lies lapp'd in lead. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 31 The mower too lapt up his scythe from our sight. 1832Blackw. Mag. XXXI. 624, I had fished..; but having broken my top in an unlucky leap, was..lapping the fracture. 1861Reade Cloister & H. lv. (1896) 154 A good dozen of spices lapped in flax paper. 1867F. Francis Angling xiii. (1880) 467 Lay the tail to the hook..and lap it on securely. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 233 The ends are lapped over with tape and yarn to prevent abrasion of the gutta percha.
transf.1388Wyclif Exod. xiv. 27 The Lord wlappide hem in the myddis of the floodis. 1587Golding De Mornay ii. (1617) 16 The Sea and Earth together are lapped vp in the Ayre. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 111 Were thy heart lapt up In any flesh but in Piero's bloode, I would thus kisse it. a1628Preston New Covt. (1634) 96 Who lookes upon him as lapping the waters as in a garment. 1657W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ Pref. 2 The reasons thereof in writing..I lapt up in one sheet, and transmitted to him. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. ii. §19. 216 Lapped in pale Elysian mist.
†b. To hem in, press close upon with a hostile force, or with something noxious. Also with about, in. Obs. (in later use only Sc.)
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 276 Lap þam bituex ȝow. c1430Syr Tryam. 1057 They lapped hym in on every syde. 14..Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 94 Thus ame I lappyd all a-boute; With todys and snaks. c1470Henry Wallace ix. 1843 Thiddyr he past, and lappyt it [Dunde] about. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 3974 The Romanis lappit thame about, That be no waye thay mycht wyn out.
†c. To fold (in the arms); to clasp, embrace.
c1350Parlt. Three Ages (text B) 247 With ladis full lufly lapped yn armes. c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 76 This worthi Mars that is of knyghthode wel The flour of feyrenesse lappeth in his armes. c1440Bone Flor. 113 Sche schall..in hur lovely armes me lappe. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 54 He at will may lap hyr in his armys. 1513Douglas æneis iii. ix. 38 Gruling on his kneis, He lappit me fast by baith the theis.
†d. Proverb. to be lapped in one's mother's smock: to be born to fortune. Obs.
1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 262 He was lapt in his mother's smock, (plane fortunæ filius).
4. In immaterial senses.
†a. To involve; to imply, include; to implicate, entangle; to wrap up in a disguise. Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter xlviii. 1 Rightwismen þat ere not..lappid in errours of þe warld. 1395Purvey Remonstr. (1851) 3 No preest or dekene wlappith hymself in seculer officis. c1425Lydg. Assembly of Gods 126 And..er they coude beware, With a sodeyn pyry, he lappyd hem in care. c1440Gesta Rom. xxvii. 103 (Harl. MS.), I am a thef, scil. lappid with swiche a synne. c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 4, I am al lappyd In sorow. c1540tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden No. 29) 112 Howsooer the matter was lapped up, it is apparent. 1549[see lapping vbl. n.2 1 c]. 1552Latimer Serm. Gosp. i. 150 He lappeth up all thynges in Loue. ― 5th Serm. Lord's Prayer (1562) 37 This Vs lappeth in al other men with my prayer. 1589R. Robinson Gold. Mirr. (Chetham Soc.) 25 No..secret shift so closely lapt, but Time the trueth shall trie. 1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xi. (1596) 172 Herein is lapped vp a very great secret. 1627–77Feltham Resolves ii. xxix. 218 You shall..whether you will or no..be lapp'd in some drunken fray.
b. Of conditions or influences: To enfold, surround, esp. with soothing, stupefying, or seductive effect. Often with round.
c1350Will. Palerne 740 Swiche listes of loue hadde lapped his hert. c1400Destr. Troy 465 Soche likyng of loue lappit hir within. c1450Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 125 The plage of dompnesse his leppis lappyd. 1632Milton L'Allegro 136 And ever against eating Cares Lap me in soft Lydian Aires, Married to immortal verse. 1745Warton Pleas. Melanch. 201 Till all my soul is..lapp'd in Paradise. 1806Moore Genius Harmony i. 19 Such downy dreams, As lap the spirit of the seventh sphere. 1819S. Rogers Hum. Life 757 Lapping the soul in sweetest melancholy! 1821J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Ghost of Fadon liv, A spell of horror lapped him round. 1853M. Arnold Requiescat 12 For peace her soul was yearning, And now peace laps her round. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Europe viii. (1894) 174, I was..lapped in some dim consciousness that I had still an hour and a half before..starting. 1877L. Morris Epic Hades i. 13, I who was..Only a careless boy lapt round with ease. 1880Swinburne Songs Springtides 17 The joy that like a garment..lapped him over and under.
5. With allusion to lap n. 5: To enfold caressingly like a child in its mother's lap; to nurse, fondle, caress; to surround with soothing and shielding care. Now chiefly pass., to be nursed in luxury, etc.
c1430Hymns Virg. 3 Þou..Þat lappid me loueli with liking song. c1430Syr Tryam. 417 Sche toke up hur sone to hur And lapped hyt fulle lythe. 1556J. Heywood Spider & F. ii. 16 Who all my life haue beene Lapped in lap of thy fayre flattering flowres. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 18 It is his hap To lie lap'd in her lap. 1811W. R. Spencer Nursing True Love 1 Lapt on Cythera's golden sands. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. xvi. (1869) 323 We grow fastidious, effeminate, lapped in idle luxury. 1847Bushnell Chr. Nurt. ii. ii. (1861) 259 The child that is..lovingly lapped in the peaceful trust of Providence, is born to a glorious heritage. 1862Goulburn Pers. Relig. II. iii. viii. 202 Moses has been lapped in royal luxury from his infancy. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xii. ix. (1872) IV. 210 Beautiful blue world of Hills..fruitful valleys lapped in them. 1870Bryant Iliad I. vi. 189 There is a town Lapped in the pasture-grounds.
6. trans.
a. To lay (something) on, over (another thing) so as partly to cover it.
b. Of a slide-valve: To pass over and close (a port). Also, to cause (a slide-valve) to overlap the port.
c. ? U.S. Of a boat, in racing: To come partly alongside (another).
1607Markham Caval. ii. (1617) 175 Till you perceiue at last he lap and throw his outmost leg ouer his inmost. 1676Grew Anat. Plants iv. ii. ii. §2 (1682) 164 The Leaves of the Flower of Blattaria..are so lapped one over another, as to make an Equilateral Pentangle. 1678Moxon Mech. Exerc. 67 Two Boards are thus lapped on the edges over one another. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 157 [She] Lapped one horse-lip over the other and was silent. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 626 When laid on the roof, they [slates] are bonded and lapped as in common slating. 1869E. Malbon in Eng. Mech. 3 Dec. 282/3 Lapping the high pressure valves will greatly raise the exhaust side. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 79/1 The edge-joints, as well as the butts, are generally lapped.
b.1870Eng. Mech. 28 Jan. 482/3 The steam-valve..commences to lap its port by the motion of the eccentric.
c.1897Webster s.v. Lap, The hinder boat lapped the foremost one.
7. intr.
†a. to lap on to, lap over, lap upon (something): to lie upon, so as to cover partially; also, to lie upon and project over, overlap.
b. To project into (something).
1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. 18 Double the end of the Plate..over the wyre to lap over it. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 120 One edge sticks in the skin, while the other laps over that immediately behind it. 1776–96Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 399 Calyx segments lapping over each other. 1779Projects in Ann. Reg. 103/2 When either of the ends of any of the laths laps over other laths. 1843Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IV. i. 34 They should be laid as regularly as possible—one part lapping on to the next layer. 1846Ibid. VII. i. 51 The four furrows..then lie two furrows right and left, lapping on to the furrow-slices thrown out of the old furrows. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 128 The mast-carlings are said to lap upon the beams by reason of their great depth; and head-ledges at the ends lap over the coamings. 1853G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 263 They lap over rocks and shelving banks. 1854Kelly & Tomlinson tr. Arago's Astron. 57 If the two images of the sun be made to lap over each other. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiii. 286 One end lapped into the west side a considerable distance.
8. With over adv.: To project beyond something else, forming a lap or flap; fig. to extend beyond some limit.
1631R. Byfield Doctr. Sabb. 102 The..end..lapped over, and strucke the childe. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 343 Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring only to make both ends meet; and as for that little that lapped over he gave it to pious uses. 1681Grew Musæum 171 The upper Wings.., at their hinder ends, where they lap over, transparent..like the Wing of a Fly. 1895Mackail Latin Lit. 135 He outlived Augustus by three years, and so laps over into the sombre period of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
9. a. Euchre. [Cf. lap n.3 3.] intr. (See quot.) b. Horse- and Motor Racing. [Cf. lap n.3 5 b.] trans. To get one or more laps ahead of (a competitor). Also fig.
1847W. T. Porter Quarter Race Kentucky 50, I told you the brown horse was a mighty fast one... But soon I lapped him. 1857Lawrence (Kansas) Republ. 11 June 3 This..was a killing pace, but Mahen lapped him inside the first quarter. 1890‘Cavendish’ Pocket Guide to Euchre 9 If the score of a game laps (that is, if more points are made than are necessary to win a game), the surplus is carried to the next game. 1890Illustr. Sporting & Dram. News 26 Apr. 210/1 He lapped most of his opponents before half the distance was covered. 1897Daily News 30 Aug. 3/3 Stocks started well, and lapped his opponents in the first 20 miles. 1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 259 Lap, pass another car for the second or third time. 1966Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1964 xlii. 6 ‘To be lapped’, to be passed by a car the race distance for which already exceeds the car being overtaken by the length of a complete lap. 1969‘D. Rutherford’ Gilt-Edged Cockpit i. 18 The leading Ferrari..was in fourth place and about to be lapped by the Mascot. 1973Times 9 Feb. 15/5 We are constantly being lapped in the wages race.
c. trans. and intr. Of persons engaged in a race, or their vehicles: to travel over (a distance) as a lap; also simply, to traverse.
1923Daily Mail 24 May 10 The course, 373/4 miles in length, has to be lapped six times. Ibid. 4 June 13 The Leyland expert put up the highest speed of the day when he lapped the 23/4 miles at an average of 117 miles an hour. 1927Daily Express 2 June 12/4 Major Segrave hopes..to lap the course at a fair speed. 1928Ibid. 26 May 9/2 There are many machines entered which could lap all day at sixty-five miles an hour. 1973P. Evans Bodyguard Man xiii. 93 Just lapping the track gently. Nothing too strenuous.
10. [Properly another word, f. lap n.3 sense 4.] trans. To reduce raw cotton to a lap.
1851Art Jrnl. Illustr. Catal. p. iv**/1 This cylinder is cleaned of the teazed cotton by means of brushes, which deliver the cotton on to fluted rollers so regularly, that it comes out of the machine lapped into the form of a broad, felt-like web of cleaned cotton. 1879Escott England I. 150 The various rooms for scutching, lapping, carding and roving the raw fibre [cotton].
11. Comb., as lap-band, -bander, dial. (see quots.); lap-work, work in which one part is interchangeably lapped over another.
1681Grew Musæum 373 The Ground is a Packthred-Caule; not Netted, but Woven. Into which by the Indian-Women are wrought, by a kind of Lap-Work, the Quills of Porcupines. 1829Brockett N.C. Words, Lapbander, that which binds closely one thing to another... A tremendous oath is frequently called a lap-bander. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Lap-band, hoop-iron.
▪ VII. lap, v.3|læp|
[back-formation from lapcock: see lap n.1 9.]
trans. To put up (hay) in small cocks.
1839W. Carleton Fardorougha (ed. 2) 57 We'd get this hay lapp'd in half the time.
▪ VIII. lap, v.4|læp|
[f. lap n.4]
trans. To rub or abrade so as to make a surface smooth (and often correctly shaped) to a high degree of precision, usually by the use of a rotating lap of suitable shape coated or impregnated with an abrasive dust, paste, or liquid.
1881Greener Gun 238 Most of the barrels are lapped or polished with a lead and emery upon another bench. 1888Sheffield Gloss., Lap, to polish steel on a wood or lead surface prepared with flint stone, thus giving it a beautiful opalescence. 1905W. S. Leonard Machine-Shop Tools & Methods (ed. 3) xxxi. 506 We sometimes lap a machine-shaft which is required to run at an extremely high speed... Other machine details may be lapped when an exceptionally high degree of refinement is required, but the process is more commonly applied to measuring-tools, such as the collar- and plug-gages, etc. 1928E. Buckingham Spur Gears xii. 444 Hardened gears are sometimes run together under load with some form of abrasive introduced with the lubricant..to smooth the surfaces and correct some of the errors. This process, however, does more grinding or crushing of the abrasive than it does to polish or lap the gear-tooth profiles. 1958Proc. IRE XLVI. 1063/1 Wafers, of dimensions 1 × ½ inch, of this material are lapped to a thickness of 10 mils. 1973Physics Bull. July 427/2 The techniques devised for lapping and polishing x ray reflectors have been modified to allow the same basic principles to be employed in lapping and polishing surfaces more complex than the plane, sphere or cylinder.
▪ IX. lap
obs. and Sc. pa. tense of leap. |