From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_194_blaplap1 /læp/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 HBHthe upper part of your legs when you are sitting down SYN kneeon somebody’s lap Shannon sat on her mother’s lap.in somebody’s lap His hands were folded in his lap.2 AROUND/ROUNDa single journey around a race track Rubens Barrichello finished a lap ahead of his team-mate.lap of honour British English, victory lap American English (=a lap to celebrate winning) The entire team took a victory lap in front of their cheering fans.3 American English a single journey from one end of a swimming pool to anotherdo/run/swim a lap Every morning she swims 50 laps in the pool.4 TRAVELa part of a long journey SYN leglap of The last lap of their journey was by ship.5 → in the lap of luxury6 → in the lap of the gods
(also lap up) [transitive]DRINK if an animal laps water, milk etc, it drinks it by putting its tongue into it3 [transitive]PASS A TEST to pass a competitor in a race who is one complete lap behind you Erik Gomas spun off the track when trying to lap Andrew Scott. —lapping noun [uncountable] She could hear the soft lapping of the sea. → lap something ↔ up→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
lap• Every morning she swims fifty laps in the pool.• She put her fists into her lap and crouched in her chair, the way people die in sparsely furnished rooms.• Robyn sat on the floor by the fire, with her plate on her lap, and tucked in.• Dorothea sat at his feet, her head in his lap.• From a three-hour flight, at the outside, when he'd only flown from London to Helsinki on the last lap?• She turned and leaned back into my lap, her shirt falling open.• I pulled the covers up over my lap.• With one lap to go in the race, Petty's car blew a tire.• Shannon sat on her mother's lap and smiled for the camera.lap of honour• Harbury was doing what Holly would call a lap of honour, circling the room saying goodbyes.• His lap of honour was a painful affair, taken at a walk.• Draped in the union flag, he took what must be the slowest lap of honour in history.• It was the sort of distance that Olympic sprinters can cover in less than a minute on their lap of honour.do/run/swim a lap• The losing team-players and coaches-must run laps.• He would run a lap and would become too fatigued to continue.last lap ... journey• The only thing that kept me going on the last lap of the journey was the rhythm of my steps.laplap2 verb (lapped, lapping) 1 [intransitive, transitive]LIQUID if water laps something or laps against something such as the shore or a boat, it moves against it or hits it in small waveslap against/over etc The waves lapped gently against the rocks. The tide was lapping the harbour wall.2 (also lap up) [transitive]DRINK if an animal laps water, milk etc, it drinks it by putting its tongue into it3 [transitive]PASS A TEST to pass a competitor in a race who is one complete lap behind you Erik Gomas spun off the track when trying to lap Andrew Scott. —lapping noun [uncountable] She could hear the soft lapping of the sea. → lap something ↔ up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
lap• The floodwaters were lapping at the sides.• I lapped at the warm, rich blood; very nice, very fresh.• Senna lapped everyone in the San Marino Grand Prix.• This morning the water was clear and silvery, chuckling a little as it lapped over the smooth, oval, brown stones.• Patrese lapped the 2.7-mile circuit at 128 mph.• Perhaps he can borrow a reptile to perch next to him and lap up his tears as they fall.• The gun lapped up snow and vegetation with a blow-torch thirty feet long.• Not surprisingly, it is a comparison that the Bush people lap up with delight.• Ice cream is one food that most kids lap up without hesitation.lap against/over etc• No one could have asked for a better final lap over the 1. 527-mile oval at Homestead, Fla.• Below his window, the new spring water softly lapped against the rocks.• The white blanket rolled down the hillside and lapped over the roofs of the dwelling and outbuildings of the little farm.• Eventually he went to sleep to the sound of little waves lapping against the sea-wall.• This morning the water was clear and silvery, chuckling a little as it lapped over the smooth, oval, brown stones.• The waves which lapped over the stern of the raft were our waste-disposal system.• The rolls of fat around his waist lap over the top of his belt.Origin lap1 1. Old English læppa2. (1800-1900) → LAP23. in the earlier meaning “to run a single time round a track” lap2 1. Old English lapian2. (1200-1300) Probably from → LAP11 in the earlier meaning “fold, piece of cloth” 