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lap2

Pronunciation: /lap/
Translate lap | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of lap

noun

  • 1one circuit of a track during a race: heavy rain stopped the race after 18 laps [as modifier]:a lap record
  • a stage in a swim consisting of two lengths of a pool: everyone did ten laps of the pool
  • a part of a journey or other undertaking:we caught a cab for the last lap of our journey
  • 2an overlapping or projecting part: cut to the depth and width of the lap
  • [mass noun] the amount by which one thing overlaps a part of another: they have sufficient lap to act compositely
  • Metallurgy a defect formed in rolling when a projecting part is accidentally folded over and pressed against the surface of the metal.
  • 3a single turn of rope, thread, or cable round a drum or reel.
  • a layer or sheet of cotton or wool, wound on a roller during manufacture.
  • 4(in a lapping machine) a rotating disc with a coating of fine abrasive for polishing.
  • a polishing tool of a special shape, coated or impregnated with an abrasive.

verb (laps, lapping, lapped)

[with object]
  • 1overtake (a competitor in a race) to become one or more laps ahead:she lapped all of her rivals in the 3,000 metres
  • [no object] (of a competitor in a race) complete a lap, especially in a specified time:Mansell lapped two tenths of a second faster than anyone else
  • 2 (lap someone/thing in) literary wrap or enfold someone or something in (something soft):he was lapped in blankets
  • 3 [no object] project beyond or overlap something:the water lapped over the edges
  • 4polish (metal, glass, or a gem) with a lapping machine: (as noun lapping)the honing and lapping of ring gauges

Origin:

Middle English (as a verb in the sense 'coil, fold, or wrap'): from lap1. Sense 1 of the noun and verb date from the mid 19th century

lap in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of lap in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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