What is "lap"

Lap \Lap\, v. t. To take into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue.

They 'II take suggestion as a cat laps milk.
--Shak.

Lap \Lap\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lapped; p. pr. & vb. n. Lapping.]

1. To rest or recline in a lap, or as in a lap.

   To lap his head on lady's breast.
   --Praed.

2. To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, etc. See 1st Lap, 10.

Lap \Lap\, v. i. To be turned or folded; to lie partly upon or by the side of something, or of one another; as, the cloth laps back; the boats lap; the edges lap.

The upper wings are opacous; at their hinder ends, where they lap over, transparent, like the wing of a flay.
--Grew.

Lap \Lap\, n.

1. The act of lapping with, or as with, the tongue; as, to take anything into the mouth with a lap.

2. The sound of lapping.

Lap \Lap\, v. i. [OE. lappen, lapen, AS. lapian; akin to LG. lappen, OHG. laffan, Icel. lepja, Dan. lade, Sw. l["a]ppja, L. lambere; cf. Gr. ?, W. llepio. Cf. Lambent.]

1. To take up drink or food with the tongue; to drink or feed by licking up something.

   The dogs by the River Nilus's side, being thirsty, lap hastily as they run along the shore.
   --Sir K. Digby.

2. To make a sound like that produced by taking up drink with the tongue.

   I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, And the wild water lapping on the crag.
   --Tennyson.

Lap \Lap\ (l[a^]p), n. [OE. lappe, AS. l[ae]ppa; akin to D. lap patch, piece, G. lappen, OHG. lappa, Dan. lap, Sw. lapp.]

1. The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron.
   --Chaucer.

2. An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth.
   --Chaucer.

   If he cuts off but a lap of truth's garment, his heart smites him.
   --Fuller.

3. The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered; figuratively, a place of rearing and fostering; as, to be reared in the lap of luxury.

   Men expect that happiness should drop into their laps.
   --Tillotson.

4. That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another; as, the lap of a board; also, the measure of such extension over or upon another thing.

   Note: The lap of shingles or slates in roofing is the distance one course extends over the second course below, the distance over the course immediately below being called the cover.

5. (Steam Engine) The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap. See Outside lap (below).

6. The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping; as, the second boat got a lap of half its length on the leader.

7. One circuit around a race track, esp. when the distance is a small fraction of a mile; as, to run twenty laps; to win by three laps. See Lap, to fold, 2.

8. In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game; -- so called when they are counted in the score of the following game.

9. (Cotton Manuf.) A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine.

10. (Mach.) A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, and the like, or in polishing cutlery, etc. It is usually in the form of wheel or disk, which revolves on a vertical axis.

    Lap joint, a joint made by one layer, part, or piece, overlapping another, as in the scarfing of timbers.

    Lap weld, a lap joint made by welding together overlapping edges or ends.

    Inside lap (Steam Engine), lap of the valve with respect to the exhaust port.

    Outside lap, lap with respect to the admission, or steam, port.

Lap \Lap\, v. t. [OE. lappen to fold (see Lap, n.); cf. also OE. wlappen, perh. another form of wrappen, E, wrap.]

1. To fold; to bend and lay over or on something; as, to lap a piece of cloth.

2. To wrap or wind around something.

   About the paper . . . I lapped several times a slender thread of very black silk.
   --Sir I. Newton.

3. To infold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish.

   Her garment spreads, and laps him in the folds.
   --Dryden.

4. To lay or place over anything so as to partly or wholly cover it; as, to lap one shingle over another; to lay together one partly over another; as, to lap weather-boards; also, to be partly over, or by the side of (something); as, the hinder boat lapped the foremost one.

5. (Carding & Spinning) To lay together one over another, as fleeces or slivers for further working.

   To lap boards, shingles, etc., to lay one partly over another.

   To lap timbers, to unite them in such a way as to preserve the same breadth and depth throughout, as by scarfing.
   --Weale.

"take up liquid with the tongue," from Old English lapian "to lap up, drink," from Proto-Germanic *lapajan (cognates: Old High German laffen "to lick," Old Saxon lepil, Dutch lepel, German Löffel "spoon"), from PIE imitative base *lab- (cognates: Greek laptein "to sip, lick," Latin lambere "to lick"), indicative of licking, lapping, smacking lips. Meaning "splash gently" first recorded 1823, based on similarity of sound. Related: Lapped; lapping.

"to lay one part over another," early 14c., "to surround (something with something else)," from lap (n.). Figurative use, "to envelop (in love, sin, desire, etc.)" is from mid-14c. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun in this sense is 1670s, originally "something coiled or wrapped up;" meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) also is from this sense. Related: Lapped; lapping; laps.

Old English læppa (plural læppan) "skirt or flap of a garment," from Proto-Germanic *lapp- (cognates: Old Frisian lappa, Old Saxon lappo, Middle Dutch lappe, Dutch lap, Old High German lappa, German Lappen "rag, shred," Old Norse leppr "patch, rag"), from PIE root *leb- "be loose, hang down."\n

\nSense of "lower part of a shirt" led to that of "upper legs of seated person" (c.1300). Used figuratively ("bosom, breast") from late 14c., as in lap of luxury, first recorded 1802. From 15c.-In 17c. the word (often in plural) was a euphemism for "female pudendum," but this is not the source of lap dance, which is first recorded 1993.To lap dance, you undress, sit your client down, order him to stay still and fully clothed, then hover over him, making a motion that you have perfected by watching Mister Softee ice cream dispensers. [Anthony Lane, review of "Showgirls," "New Yorker," Oct. 16, 1995]That this is pleasure and not torment for the client is something survivors of the late 20c. will have to explain to their youngers.

Etymology 1 n. 1 The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron. 2 An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth. 3 The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered; figuratively, a place of rearing and fostering; as, to be reared in the lap of luxury. 4 The upper legs of a seated person. 5 (context archaic euphemistic English) The female pudend

1. (17th century) 6 (context construction English) component that overlaps or covers any portion of the same or adjacent component. v

2. 1 To enfold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish. 2 To rest or recline in a lap, or as in a lap. Etymology 2

   n. 1 The act or process of lapping. 2 That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another; as, the lap of a board; also, the measure of such extension over or upon another thing. 3 The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap. See Outside lap (below). 4 The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping; as, the second boat got a lap of half its length on the leader. 5 (context sports English) One circuit around a race track, or one traversal down and then back the length of a pool; as, to run twenty laps; to win by three laps, to swim two laps. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To fold; to bend and lay over or on something. 2 (context transitive English) to wrap around, enwrap, wrap up 3 (context transitive English) to envelop, enfold 4 (context intransitive English) to wind around 5 (context transitive English) To place or lay (one thing) so as to overlap another. 6 (context transitive English) To polish, e.g., a surface, until smooth. 7 (context intransitive English) To be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap. 8 (context transitive English) To overtake a straggler in a race by completing one more whole lap than the straggler. 9 To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, et

3. Etymology 3

   vb. 1 (context ambitransitive English) To take (liquid) into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue. 2 (context intransitive of water English) To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash.

1. n. the upper side of the thighs of a seated person; "he picked up the little girl and plopped her down in his lap"

2. an area of control or responsibility; "the job fell right in my lap"

3. the part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs; "his lap was covered with food stains" [syn: lap covering]

4. a flap that lies over another part; "the lap of the shingles should be at least ten inches" [syn: overlap]

5. movement once around a course; "he drove an extra lap just for insurance" [syn: circle, circuit]

6. touching with the tongue; "the dog's laps were warm and wet" [syn: lick]

7. [also: lapping, lapped]

1. v. lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another

2. pass the tongue over; "the dog licked her hand" [syn: lick]

3. move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound; "The bubbles swoshed around in the glass"; "The curtain swooshed open" [syn: swish, swosh, swoosh]

4. take up with the tongue; "The cat lapped up the milk"; "the cub licked the milk from its mother's breast" [syn: lap up, lick]

5. wash or flow against; "the waves laved the shore" [syn: lave, wash]

6. [also: lapping, lapped]

A lap is the area on top of the thighs of a sitting person.

Lap may also refer to:

• One circuit in a speed sport, starting and ending at the same place (e.g. around a race track or from end to end of a swimming pool)
• Licking, the movement of an animal's tongue, usually for drinking
• Lapping or "to lap", an abrasive machining process
• Laps, a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne, central France
• Lap joint, a technique for joining two materials

LAP may refer to:

• Manuel Márquez de León International Airport, IATA code
• La Plata (Amtrak station), Missouri, USA (Amtrak code)
• Lambert Academic Publishing, a publishing house of the VDM Group
• Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase, substance within white blood cells
• Language/action perspective, a computational paradigm
• Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas, initials and ICAO code of the former national airline of Paraguay
• Linhas Aéreas Paulistas – LAP, former Brazilian airline
• Lima Airport Partners, a company that operates the Lima, Peru airport

People with surname Lap:

• Geert Lap (born 1951), Dutch ceramist

A lap is a surface (usually horizontal) created between the knee and hips of a biped when it is in a seated or lying down position.