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Definition of lap verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

lap

verb
 
/læp/
 
/læp/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they lap
 
/læp/
 
/læp/
he / she / it laps
 
/læps/
 
/læps/
past simple lapped
 
/læpt/
 
/læpt/
past participle lapped
 
/læpt/
 
/læpt/
-ing form lapping
 
/ˈlæpɪŋ/
 
/ˈlæpɪŋ/
Phrasal Verbs
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  1. [intransitive] (of water) to touch something gently and regularly, often making a soft sound
    • The waves lapped around our feet.
    • the sound of water lapping against the boat
    Extra Examples
    • The freezing water lapped over her boots.
    • The water lapped around his ankles.
    • The waves lapped at her feet.
    • The waves lapped gently against the side of the ship.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • gently
    • softly
    preposition
    • against
    • around
    • at
    See full entry
  2. [transitive] lap something (of animals) to drink something with quick movements of the tongue
  3. [transitive] lap somebody (in a race) to pass another runner on a track who is one or more laps behind you
    • She had already lapped most of the other runners.
  4. Word Originverb sense 3 Middle English (as a verb in the sense ‘coil, fold, or wrap’): from the noun lap sense (1). The current senses date from the mid 19th cent. verb senses 1 to 2 Old English lapian, of Germanic origin; related to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch lapen.
See lap in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
perspective
noun
 
 
From the Word list
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B2
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