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# lap

«lap» in Mova's school dictionary: **one time around a track, field or pool** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (lap, laps); verb (lap, laps, lapped, lapping)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A lap is one time around a track, field or pool. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#m1)

2) Your lap is the flat top part of your legs when you sit down. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#m2)

3) To lap is to drink by licking with the tongue, like a cat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#m3)

4) Water laps when it moves gently against something, like waves on a beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#m4)

5) To lap someone in a race is to get a whole lap ahead of them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In maths, a unit of distance repeated: laps × length of one lap. In PE and sport: run laps of the field, swim laps of the pool. In everyday life: a cat sits on your lap, a laptop sits on your lap. In stories, waves lap at the shore. Phrases: «a lap of», «on your lap», «lap up», «the last lap», «victory lap».

### examples

- One lap of the track is 400 metres. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x1)
- She ran 6 laps. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x2)
- How far did she run? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x3)
- He swims 20 laps a day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x4)
- The cat curled up on Grandma's lap. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x5)
- The dog lapped water from its bowl. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x6)
- Waves lapped gently against the boat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x7)
- On the last lap, Ava moved into first place. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x8)
- The fastest runner lapped the slowest one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x9)
- The whip lay on his lap. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/#x10)

### note

Countable: a lap, laps. Verb past: lapped; -ing: lapping. Laps are repeated equal distances: multiply. Trap: the distance of one lap must be known; «4 laps» alone is not metres. A lap of a pool is often one length there and back, but some say one length — read the story.

### In the corpora

- [Stroke a cat on your lap and you feel a low rumble through its body: the purr.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming/2/)
- [Tom never catches Jerry, cartoon cats lap saucers of milk, and they always land on their feet.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry/7/)
- [He agrees and lays his head in her lap.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/7/)
- [A seat is for a person, so put your bag on your lap or the floor when the bus is busy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/225-public-transport-and-borrowing/10/)
- [Everyone needs their own seat belt; two children never share one and nobody rides on a lap.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/268-in-the-car-and-seat-belts/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «lap» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lap/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.