Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [lap uhp]
- /læp ʌp/
- /læp ʌp/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [lap uhp]
- /læp ʌp/
Definitions of lap up words
- verb with object lap up (of water) to wash against or beat upon (something) with a light, slapping or splashing sound: Waves lapped the shoreline. 1
- verb with object lap up to take in (liquid) with the tongue; lick in: to lap water from a bowl. 1
- verb without object lap up to wash or move in small waves with a light, slapping or splashing sound: The water lapped gently against the mooring. 1
- verb without object lap up to take up liquid with the tongue; lick up a liquid. 1
- noun lap up the act of lapping liquid. 1
- noun lap up the lapping of water against something. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of lap up
First appearance:
before 1000 One of the 6% oldest English words
before 1000; Middle English lappen, unexplained variant of lapen, Old English lapian; cognate with Middle Low German lapen, Old High German laffan; akin to Latin lambere, Greek láptein to lick, lap
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Lap up
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
lap up popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 93% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
lap up usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for lap up
verb lap up
- affirm — If you affirm that something is true or that something exists, you state firmly and publicly that it is true or exists.
- acknowledge — If you acknowledge a fact or a situation, you accept or admit that it is true or that it exists.
- assume — If you assume that something is true, you imagine that it is true, sometimes wrongly.
- recognize — to identify as something or someone previously seen, known, etc.: He had changed so much that one could scarcely recognize him.
- adopt — If you adopt a new attitude, plan, or way of behaving, you begin to have it.
Antonyms for lap up
verb lap up
- deny — When you deny something, you state that it is not true.
- refuse — to decline to accept (something offered): to refuse an award.
- repudiate — to reject as having no authority or binding force: to repudiate a claim.
- disapprove — to think (something) wrong or reprehensible; censure or condemn in opinion.
- reject — to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc.: to reject the offer of a better job.