- a white mass of small bubbles that is produced by mixing soap with water
- to work up a good lather
Word OriginOld English læthor (denoting washing soda or its froth), lēthran (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse lauthr (noun), from an Indo-European root shared by Greek loutron ‘bath’.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Idioms
See lather in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryget into a lather | work yourself into a lather
- (informal) to get anxious or angry about something, especially when it is not necessary
- Calm down—don’t work yourself into a lather about it.
in a lather
- (British English, informal) in a nervous, angry or excited state synonym worked up
- Dad was in a right lather about something.
Check pronunciation:
lather