laps 1 of 3

plural of lap
as in legs
a portion of a trip we were on the last lap of the journey, eagerly heading for home

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laps

2 of 3

verb (1)

present tense third-person singular of lap
1
as in washes
to flow along or against the waves gently lapped the sandy shore

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2
3
as in ripples
to move with a splashing motion a stiff breeze that was causing the lake waters to lap against the hull with some force

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laps

3 of 3

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of lap

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of laps
Noun
Verstappen dominated Sunday’s main race, leading Leclerc and Norris out of Turn 1 and building an insurmountable 10-second lead after 20 of the race’s 56 laps. Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025 The 44-year-old driver revealed how those last few laps went so quickly as his car supported him in executing a different strategy. Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025 If the plan is to film trail runs, moto rides, beach days, or ski laps without battery anxiety or fiddly menus, this price gets you straight to recording and sharing. PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025 The camera was only capable of recording two laps, anyway. Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2025 Everyone was trying to balance their dessert plates on their laps, when my 8-year-old niece dropped an entire piece of chocolate cake on the rug. R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 10 Apr. 2025 His 243 laps led are still the most in a NASCAR race since 2000, when Jeff Burton led all 300 laps in a victory at New Hampshire. Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 7 Apr. 2025
Verb
Probably nobody really took it that personally, but all the victory laps she’s been taking over the last two years felt incomplete — like a lap-ette — without a proper major SoCal show to celebrate her ascendance into the pop firmament. Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025 One to two of these selections per day pair perfectly with feet-in-the-sand beach reads and laps in the infinity pool. Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025 And just like in sports, there were some nailbiting finishes, a few major upsets and a whole lot of victory laps to take. Alex Apatoff, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025 In the middle of it all is a vast pool which looks like a large lake as it is seamlessly set into the ground and laps onto a sandy beach where pink flamingos gather. Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025 Water laps at the shore and paddleboarders and kayakers pull up behind the stage to groove to the tunes. The Know, Denver Post, 15 Aug. 2025 There’s a version of Rosebud Baker’s special The Mother Lode that leans much further into its premise and takes more victory laps about the cuteness of its central idea. Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2025 And last December, some 100 runners ran laps around a World War II-era bunker in the United Kingdom, in the country’s first underground marathon. Owen Clarke, Outside Online, 29 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laps
legs
Noun
  • Among the injuries the child suffered, Hestrin said, were a partial bone fracture of the skull, a brain hemorrhage and injuries to the ribs and legs.
    Madeline Morrison, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Their gentle warm-up then transitions into a dynamic aerial exercise, where both robots lift their legs into the air and perform a twist.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Laps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laps. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

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