What does lapping mean?
Lapping is the present participle of lap and describes two familiar actions: taking liquid into the mouth with the tongue, as a cat laps milk, and moving over or against a surface in small waves, as the sea laps the shore. The first sense can carry a gentle, domestic or affectionate implication, especially when used of animals, while the second often suggests repetition, softness, and rhythmic motion. Literary contexts may also apply the word to any repeated movement comparable to water. Because it is a conjugated form of lap rather than an independent lexical item, lapping normally appears in progressive constructions such as “is lapping” or “kept lapping,” although it can function as a gerund in phrases such as “the lapping of the waves.” It is equally standard in British and American English and is especially useful when the precise image matters: the tongue in one sense and the shoreline in the other.
verbLapping is the present participle of lap, meaning to take liquid into the mouth with the tongue or to wash against something with a soft, repeated movement.
- To take in liquid with the tongue, usually in repeated movements.
- To wash against or move over a surface with a soft, repeated motion, especially as waves do.
- To move around or over something with a gentle, repetitive movement.
"The cat lay on the rug, lapping milk from a shallow bowl."
"The cat lay on the rug, lapping milk from a shallow bowl."
"Waves were lapping against the seawall as the evening light faded."
The sea's lapping at the shore is liquid percussion: each wave advances, retreats, and leaves a fading whisper.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lapping come from?
The verb lap developed through Middle English lappen from Old English lapian, meaning “to lick” or “to lap.” Its cognates include German lecken, Dutch lepen, and Icelandic lepa, all belonging to a Germanic vocabulary for licking. The extended sense of liquid washing against a surface arose from the similarity between the movement of a tongue taking up liquid and that of waves moving over a shore.
Related word forms
How lapping is actually used
In its liquid sense, lapping characteristically evokes repeated tongue movement and is especially familiar in descriptions of cats and other animals. In descriptions of water, it suggests gentle, rhythmic contact with a shore or other surface. The word is standard in both British and American English.