What is "lather"

Lather \Lath"er\, v. i. To form lather, or a froth like lather; to accumulate foam from profuse sweating, as a horse.

Lather \Lath"er\, v. t. [Cf. Leather.] To beat severely with a thong, strap, or the like; to flog.

Lather \Lath"er\ (l[a^][th]"[~e]r), n. [AS. le['a][eth]or niter, in le['a][eth]orwyrt soapwort; cf. Icel. lau[eth]r; perh. akin to E. lye.]

1. Foam or froth made by soap moistened with water.

2. Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse.

Lather \Lath"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lathered (l[a^][th]"[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Lathering.] [AS. l[=e][eth]rian to lather, anoint. See Lather, n. ] To spread over with lather; as, to lather the face.

Old English lauþr "foam, washing soda," from Proto-Germanic *lauthran (cognates: Old Norse lauðr "washing soap, foam"), from PIE *loutro- (cognates: Gaulish lautron, Old Irish loathar "bathing tub," Greek louein "to bathe," Latin lavere "to wash"), which is from root *leu(e)- "to wash" + instrumentative suffix *-tro-. The modern noun might be a 16c. redevelopment from the verb. Meaning "violent perspiration" (especially of horses) is from 1650s. Meaning "state of agitation" (such as induces sweating) is from 1839.

Old English laþran, from Proto-Germanic *lauthrjan (source also of Old Norse leyðra "to clean, wash;" see lather (n.)). Related: Lathered; lathering.

Etymology 1 n. 1 The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water. 2 Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse. 3 A state of agitation. Etymology 2

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To cover with lather. 2 (context transitive English) To beat or whip. 3 (context intransitive English) To form lather or froth, as a horse does when profusely sweating.

1. n. the froth produced by soaps or detergents [syn: soapsuds, suds]

2. agitation resulting from active worry; "don't get in a stew"; "he's in a sweat about exams" [syn: fret, stew, sweat, swither]

3. a workman who puts up laths

4. the foam resulting from excessive sweating (as on a horse)

5. v. cover with soap; "lather your body when you shower"

6. beat severely with a whip or rod; "The teacher often flogged the students"; "The children were severely trounced" [syn: flog, welt, whip, lash, slash, strap, trounce]

7. form a lather; "The shaving cream lathered"

8. rub soap all over, usually with the purpose of cleaning [syn: soap]

Lather may refer to:

• Foam, a substance formed by gas bubbles trapped in a liquid or solid
• Läther (pronounced "leather"), a Frank Zappa album
• Lather (song), a song by Jefferson Airplane
• Lather, a worker who installs the strips used in lath and plaster wall construction

'Läther' (, or "Leather"), is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa, released posthumously as a triple album on Rykodisc in 1996.

The recordings for the album were originally delivered to Warner Bros. in 1977. Contractual obligations stipulated that Zappa deliver four albums for release on DiscReet Records, which eventually resulted in much of the material on Läther being released on four separate albums: Zappa in New York (1977), Studio Tan (1978), Sleep Dirt (1979), and Orchestral Favorites (1979), only the first of which was produced with Zappa's oversight. Zappa had planned to include much of the material from these albums as a quadruple box set entitled "Läther", but Warner Bros. refused to release it in this format. However, bootlegs of the original recording had existed for decades before the album's official release as a result of Frank Zappa broadcasting it over the radio in 1977 and encouraging listeners to make tape recordings of it.

Gail Zappa has confirmed that the 2-track masters for the planned original album were located while producing the 1996 version. While the official CD version of Läther released is reportedly identical to the test-pressings for the original quadruple album, four bonus tracks were added to the 1996 release and the title of the song, "One More Time for the World" was changed to "The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution", the title under which the same song appears on the album Sleep Dirt. The album does not include "Baby Snakes", a song which was originally planned for the album. A version of the song served as the title of the film from the same era. This is Official Release #65.

"Lather", a song by Grace Slick, performed by US rock band Jefferson Airplane, is the opening track on the 1968 album Crown of Creation and was the B-side for the single of the same name.

The song tells of someone known as Lather who has just turned 30 and, much to his chagrin, is coming to the realisation that he's expected to behave in a fashion that people find appropriate for his age. The song was written for Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden on the occasion of his thirtieth birthday.

Slick was poking fun at Dryden, then her lover, because he was the first person in the band to reach that milestone age of thirty. Speaking on the Fly Jefferson Airplane DVD, Slick repeats these lines and remarks: "Spencer was very child-like. He was more child-like than the rest of the other guys in the band. So it's a song about Spencer Dryden being the old guy but still being a child. I called him Lather because he used a straight-edge razor at the time and had a fairly thick beard - he used lather." However, one passage of the song:

has been said by Bill Thompson, in his introduction of the liner notes to the 2003 reissue of Crown of Creation, to refer to the occasion when bassist Jack Casady was arrested nude on a beach in Santa Cruz, California while on the psychedelic drug STP.

Slick was also decrying Wall Street and militarism.

The band performed the song in their 1968 appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.