To lick up (a liquid, as water, milk, or liquid food); take into the mouth with the tongue.To flow against or upon with a sound as of licking up; ripple against; lick or wash.To lick up a liquid; drink by licking.To make a sound like that produced by taking up water with the tongue.n. A lick; a lapping; a motion or sound resembling that of lapping.n. That which is licked up, as porridge. Compare cat-lap.n. A flap or loosely hanging part of a thing; a loose border or fold.n. The loose part of a coat; the skirt of a garment; a lappet.n. The front part of the skirt of a garment: that part of the clothing that lies loosely on the thighs and knees when a person sits down; especially, this part of the clothing, or an apron, as used to hold or contain something.n. The part of the body covered by the front part of the skirts of one's garments or by an apron, especially when in a sitting posture: often used with special reference to nursing or cherishing: as, to hold a child in one's lap.n. In textile manufacturing See lapping, 3.n. Figuratively, anything which supports and cherishes; any retreat in which something rests or reposes; shelter; abode: as, the lap of earth; the lap of luxury.To wrap or twist round.To wrap or infold; involve.To fold; bend and lay one part or fold of over another: as, to lap a piece of cloth.To lay in such a way as to cover a part of something underneath; cause to overlap: as, to lap shingles or slates on a roof.To feign; invent.To cut or polish with a lap: as, to lap a gem. See lap, n., 5.To extend over a part of something else; overlap.n. A covering.n. The part of one body which lies on and covers part of another; the amount or extent of such covering: as, the lap of a slate in roofing.n. In the steam-engine, the space over which a slide-valve travels after the closing of the steam-passage to or from the cylinder.n. A thick roll or sheet of cotton, wool, or the like, in various stages of manufacture.n. A wheel or disk of lead, copper, wood, leather, or other substance, which, being charged with polishing- or cutting-powder, is used in cutting gems, glass, etc., or in polishing gems and cutlery.n. In gun-making, a lead casting made to fit the bore of a rifle, with which the rifling is smoothed and polished.n. In euchre, a lapping of the count from one game to the next; the carrying of a surplus of points at the end of a game over to the score of the next game: done by agreement, not as a regular feature of the game.n. A course or round, as in running; a lapping or roundabout run.n. In walking-matches and similar contests, a single round of the course along which competitors have to go a certain number of times in order to complete a specified distance.n. An obsolete or dialectal (Scotch) preterit of leap.n. The tops of trees left in the woods in logging. Also lapwood.n. The act of winding or being wound round a drum; the length of rope necessary to go round it once; also, the length of silk, tape, wire, or the like, necessary to go round anything once.n. The failure of the valve, when in mid-position, to cut off the exhaust from either end of the cylinder.n. The distance by which the valve, when in mid-position, fails to cut off the exhaust, or the distance the valve would have to travel from mid-position before the exhaust would be closed.n. A projection on the valve reaching beyond the outside edge of the steam-port when the valve is in its mid-position. It is designed to close the port before the end of the stroke of the piston, thus utilizing the expansive force of the steam.n. Same as outside lap. See lap, 3.