Etymology From Middle English lappe, from Old English læppa (“skirt or flap of a garment”), from Proto-West Germanic *lappō, from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”). Cognate with Dutch lap (“cloth; rag”), German Lappen (“cloth; lobe; flap”), Icelandic leppur (“rag; patch”).
Etymology From Middle English lappe, from Old English læppa (“skirt or flap of a garment”), from Proto-West Germanic *lappō, from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”). Cognate with Dutch lap (“cloth; rag”), German Lappen (“cloth; lobe; flap”), Icelandic leppur (“rag; patch”).
1
To enfold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish.
Her garment spreads, and laps him in the fold.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Sixth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
2
To rest or recline in someone's lap, or as in a lap.
to lap his head on lady's breasta. 1839, Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Gog:
lap
verb
Etymology
From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold up”) (from Germanic). Doublet of wrap. Also related to envelop, develop. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense.
About the paper […] I lapped several times a slender thread of very black silk.1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:
3
to envelop, enfold
lapped in luxury
4
to wind around
5
To place or lay (one thing) so as to overlap another.
One laps roof tiles so that water can run off.
6
To polish (a surface, especially metal or gemstone) with very fine abrasive to achieve smoothness and small dimensional changes.
7
To be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap.
The cloth laps back.
The boats lap; the edges lap.
1 more example
The upper wings are opacous[…]; at their hinder ends, where they lap over, transparent, like the wing of a fly.1681, Nehemiah Grew, Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or A Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham Colledge. […], London: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, →OCLC:
8
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Racing, Sports 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, etc.
From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold up”) (from Germanic). Doublet of wrap. Also related to envelop, develop. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense.
That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another.
the lap of a board
3
The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping.
The second boat got a lap of half its length on the leader.
4
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 below).
5
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports One circuit around a race track.
to run twenty laps
to drive the fastest lap in qualifying
2 more examples
to win by three laps
Alonso's second place moves him into a tie on points at the head of the championship with Sebastian Vettel, who was sixth in his Red Bull, passing Button, then Hamilton and finally Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg in quick succession in the closing laps.2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:
6
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Swimming The traversal of one length of the pool, or (less commonly) one length and back again.
to swim two laps
7
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.
8
A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine.
9
A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, etc. or in polishing cutlery or in toolmaking. It is usually in the form of a wheel or disk that revolves on a vertical axis.
Etymology From Middle English lappen, from Old English lapian, from Proto-West Germanic *lapōn, from Proto-Germanic *lapōną, *lapjaną (“to lick; lap”), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b- (“to lap, lick”); akin to Old High German laffen (“to lick”), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (“spoon”). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick”). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln.
1
Ambitransitive To take (liquid) into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue.
Don’t lap your soup like that! You look like a dog.
They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
1 more example
The dogs by the River Nilus's side, being thirsty, lap hastily […]as they run along the shore.1644, Kenelme [i.e., Kenelm] Digby, Two Treatises. In the One of which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked into: In Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, Paris: […] Gilles Blaizot, →OCLC:
2
Of water To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash.
I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, / And the wild water lapping on the crag.1870, Alfred Tennyson, “The Passing of Arthur”, in The Holy Grail and Other Poems, London: Strahan and Co., […], →OCLC, page 144:
Etymology From Middle English lappen, from Old English lapian, from Proto-West Germanic *lapōn, from Proto-Germanic *lapōną, *lapjaną (“to lick; lap”), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b- (“to lap, lick”); akin to Old High German laffen (“to lick”), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (“spoon”). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick”). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln.
1
The taking of liquid into the mouth with the tongue.
With each lap of its tongue a cat gathers up milk and throws it well back into the gateway of its throat […]1955, Ann Haven Morgan, Kinships of Animals and Man: A Textbook of Animal Biology, page 176: