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 , 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 (?), v. i. [OE. lappen, lapen, AS. lapian; akin to LG. lappen, OHG. laffan, Icel.
lepja, Dan. lade,
Sw. läppja, 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 , 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 , 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.
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 (?), n. [OE.
lappe, AS. læppa; 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.
&fist; 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.
Hear it pronounced