lap

When you sit down, the horizontal area between your knees and your torso becomes a lap.

Her computer is on her lap. It’s a laptop computer.
She has a baby on her lap. (It’s also possible to use the preposition "in." She has a baby in her lap.)

The word "lap" is also used for competitions that require the use of a track or a swimming pool:

Swimming from one end of a pool to the other end, and then back again, is one lap. She’s swimming laps.
They’re doing laps around a race track. (Once around is one lap.)

When an animal drinks something, you can use "lap" as a verb. It’s also used when water arrives on a shoreline or hits up against the side of a boat:

The cat is lapping up some water.
The waves lapping against the shoreline create a soothing sound.

There are also some expressions that use the word "lap"

• Tom didn’t have to work very hard to find his new job. It just fell in his lap. (The job was easy to get.)
• Sandra expects everything to fall in her lap. (She wants everything to be easy. She doesn’t want to work hard.)
• I don’t need any more work dropped in my lap. (If something drops in your lap, it might be an unexpected, additional responsibility or amount of work.)

Note: If you have trouble with final "p" sounds, click here to listen to them and practice them.

Click here to go to the Word of the Day page.

This page was first published on September 28, 2012. It was updated on April 19, 2016.