lank /læ ŋk/ ADJ If someone's hair is lank , it is long and perhaps greasy and hangs in a dull and unattractive way.
lanky /læ ŋki/ (lankier , lankiest ) ADJ If you describe someone as lanky , you mean that they are tall and thin and move rather awkwardly. □ He was six feet four, all lanky and leggy.
lan|tern /læ ntə r n/ (lanterns ) N‑COUNT A lantern is a lamp in a metal frame with glass sides and with a handle on top so you can carry it.
Lao|tian /le I oʊ ʃ ə n/ (Laotians )
1 ADJ Laotian means belonging or relating to Laos, or its people, language, or culture.
2 N‑COUNT A Laotian is a Laotian citizen, or a person of Laotian origin.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Laotian is the language spoken in Laos.
lap ◆◇◇ /læ p/ (laps , lapping , lapped )
1 N‑COUNT If you have something on your lap when you are sitting down, it is on top of your legs and near to your body. □ She waited quietly with her hands in her lap. □ Hugh glanced at the child on her mother's lap.
2 N‑COUNT In a race, a competitor completes a lap when they have gone round a course once. □ …that last lap of the race. □ On lap two, Baker edged forward.
3 VERB In a race, if you lap another competitor, you go past them while they are still on the previous lap. □ [V n] He was caught out while lapping a slower rider.
4 N‑COUNT A lap of a long journey is one part of it, between two points where you stop. □ [+ of ] I had thought we might travel as far as Oak Valley, but we only managed the first lap of the journey.
5 VERB When water laps against something such as the shore or the side of a boat, it touches it gently and makes a soft sound. [WRITTEN ] □ [V prep/adv] …the water that lapped against the pillars of the boathouse. □ [V n] The building was right on the river and the water lapped the walls. ● lap|ping N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] The only sound was the lapping of the waves.
6 VERB When an animal laps a drink, it uses short quick movements of its tongue to take liquid up into its mouth. □ [V n] The cat lapped milk from a dish. ● PHRASAL VERB Lap up means the same as lap . □ [V n P ] She poured some water into a plastic bowl. Faust, her Great Dane, lapped it up with relish.
7 PHRASE If you say that a situation is in the lap of the gods , you mean that its success or failure depends entirely on luck or on things that are outside your control. □ They had to stop the operation, so at that stage my life was in the lap of the gods.
▸ lap up
1 PHRASAL VERB If you say that someone laps up something such as information or attention, you mean that they accept it eagerly, usually when you think they are being foolish for believing that it is sincere. □ [V P n] Their audience will lap up whatever they throw at them. □ [V n P ] They just haven't been to school before. They're so eager to learn, they lap it up.
2 → see lap 6
la p danc|ing N‑UNCOUNT Lap dancing is a type of entertainment in a bar or club in which a woman who is wearing very few clothes dances in a sexy way close to customers or sitting on their laps. ● lap danc|er (lap dancers ) N‑COUNT □ …a club full of lap dancers.
la|pel /ləpe l/ (lapels ) N‑COUNT The lapels of a jacket or coat are the two top parts at the front that are folded back on each side and join on to the collar.
la|pis lazu|li /læ p I s læ zjʊla I , [AM ] -liː/ N‑UNCOUNT Lapis lazuli is a bright blue stone, used especially in making jewellery.
la p of hon|our (laps of honour ) N‑COUNT If the winner of a race or game does a lap of honour , they run or drive slowly around a race track or sports field in order to receive the applause of the crowd. [BRIT ]
lapse /læ ps/ (lapses , lapsing , lapsed )
1 N‑COUNT [usu adj N ] A lapse is a moment or instance of bad behaviour by someone who usually behaves well. □ On Friday he showed neither decency nor dignity. It was an uncommon lapse. [Also + in ]
2 N‑COUNT A lapse of something such as concentration or judgment is a temporary lack of that thing, which can often cause you to make a mistake. □ [+ of ] I had a little lapse of concentration in the middle of the race. □ The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.
3 VERB If you lapse into a quiet or inactive state, you stop talking or being active. □ [V + into ] She muttered something unintelligible and lapsed into silence.
4 VERB If someone lapses into a particular way of speaking, or behaving, they start speaking or behaving in that way, usually for a short period. □ [V + into ] Teenagers occasionally find it all too much to cope with and lapse into bad behaviour. ● N‑COUNT Lapse is also a noun. □ [+ into ] Her lapse into German didn't seem peculiar. After all, it was her native tongue.
5 N‑SING A lapse of time is a period that is long enough for a situation to change or for people to have a different opinion about it. □ [+ of ] …the restoration of diplomatic relations after a lapse of 24 years. □ [+ between ] There is usually a time lapse between receipt of new information and its publication.
6 VERB If a period of time lapses , it passes. □ [V ] Too much time has lapsed for police to now bring charges.