lap
♦ lap /l'æp/ (laps lapping lapped)
1 [N-COUNT] poss N
If you have something on your lap when you are sitting down, it is on top of your legs and near to your body.
She waited quietly with her hands in her lap...
Hugh glanced at the child on her mother's lap.
2 [N-COUNT] usu ord/adj N, N num
In a race, a competitor completes a lap when they have gone round a course once.
...that last lap of the race...
On lap two, Baker edged forward.
3 [VERB] V n
In a race, if you lap another competitor, you go past them while they are still on the previous lap.
He was caught out while lapping a slower rider.
4 [N-COUNT] N of n, ord/adj N
A lap of a long journey is one part of it, between two points where you stop.
I had thought we might travel as far as Oak Valley, but we only managed the first lap of the journey.
= leg
5 [VERB] V prep/adv, V n
When water laps against something such as the shore or the side of a boat, it touches it gently and makes a soft sound. (WRITTEN)
...the water that lapped against the pillars of the boathouse...
The building was right on the river and the water lapped the walls.
● lapping [N-UNCOUNT] the N of n
The only sound was the lapping of the waves.
6 [VERB] V n
When an animal laps a drink, it uses short quick movements of its tongue to take liquid up into its mouth.
The cat lapped milk from a dish.
[PHRASAL VERB] V n P
Lap up means the same as lap.
She poured some water into a plastic bowl. Faust, her Great Dane, lapped it up with relish.
7 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
If you say that a situation is in the lap of the gods, you mean that its success or failure depends entirely on luck or on things that are outside your control.
They had to stop the operation, so at that stage my life was in the lap of the gods.lap danc|ing
[N-UNCOUNT]
Lap dancing is a type of entertainment in a bar or club in which a woman who is wearing very few clothes dances in a sexy way close to customers or sitting on their laps.
● lap dancer [N-COUNT]
...a club full of lap dancers.lap of hon|our (laps of honour)
[N-COUNT]
If the winner of a race or game does a lap of honour, they run or drive slowly around a race track or sports field in order to receive the applause of the crowd. (BRIT)lap up
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you say that someone laps up something such as information or attention, you mean that they accept it eagerly, usually when you think they are being foolish for believing that it is sincere.
Their audience will lap up whatever they throw at them...
They just haven't been to school before. They're so eager to learn, they lap it up.
see lap 6
1 [N-COUNT] poss N
If you have something on your lap when you are sitting down, it is on top of your legs and near to your body.
She waited quietly with her hands in her lap...
Hugh glanced at the child on her mother's lap.
2 [N-COUNT] usu ord/adj N, N num
In a race, a competitor completes a lap when they have gone round a course once.
...that last lap of the race...
On lap two, Baker edged forward.
3 [VERB] V n
In a race, if you lap another competitor, you go past them while they are still on the previous lap.
He was caught out while lapping a slower rider.
4 [N-COUNT] N of n, ord/adj N
A lap of a long journey is one part of it, between two points where you stop.
I had thought we might travel as far as Oak Valley, but we only managed the first lap of the journey.
= leg
5 [VERB] V prep/adv, V n
When water laps against something such as the shore or the side of a boat, it touches it gently and makes a soft sound. (WRITTEN)
...the water that lapped against the pillars of the boathouse...
The building was right on the river and the water lapped the walls.
● lapping [N-UNCOUNT] the N of n
The only sound was the lapping of the waves.
6 [VERB] V n
When an animal laps a drink, it uses short quick movements of its tongue to take liquid up into its mouth.
The cat lapped milk from a dish.
[PHRASAL VERB] V n P
Lap up means the same as lap.
She poured some water into a plastic bowl. Faust, her Great Dane, lapped it up with relish.
7 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
If you say that a situation is in the lap of the gods, you mean that its success or failure depends entirely on luck or on things that are outside your control.
They had to stop the operation, so at that stage my life was in the lap of the gods.lap danc|ing
[N-UNCOUNT]
Lap dancing is a type of entertainment in a bar or club in which a woman who is wearing very few clothes dances in a sexy way close to customers or sitting on their laps.
● lap dancer [N-COUNT]
...a club full of lap dancers.lap of hon|our (laps of honour)
[N-COUNT]
If the winner of a race or game does a lap of honour, they run or drive slowly around a race track or sports field in order to receive the applause of the crowd. (BRIT)lap up
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you say that someone laps up something such as information or attention, you mean that they accept it eagerly, usually when you think they are being foolish for believing that it is sincere.
Their audience will lap up whatever they throw at them...
They just haven't been to school before. They're so eager to learn, they lap it up.
see lap 6