lace

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.

   • c. 1620, Francis Bacon, letter of advice to Sir George Villiers Our English dames are much given to the wearing of very fine and costly laces.
2. 2

   A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to…

   A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly.

   • your laces are untied, do them up!
3. 3

   A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords

   A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net.

   • The king had ſnared been in loues ſtrong lace, [...]
4. ›+ 9 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Spirits added to coffee or another beverage.

      • He is forced every Morning to drink his Dish of Coffee by itself, without the Addition of the Spectator, that used to be better than Lace to it.
   2. 5

      To fasten (something) with laces.

      • When Jenny's stays are newly laced.
   3. 6

      To interweave items.

      • to lace one's fingers together
      • The Gond […] picked up a trail of the Karela, the vine that bears the bitter wild gourd, and laced it to and fro across the temple door.
   4. 7

      To interweave the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

   5. 8

      To beat

      To beat; to lash; to make stripes on.

      • I'll Lace your Coat for ye.
   6. 9

      To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.

      • cloth laced with silver
      • Under these windows, white and azure-laced
   7. 10

      To intersperse or diversify with something.

      • The throne speech opening the New Democrat government’s second legislative session Dec. 2 was a modest document featuring caution and pragmatism laced with a few tidbits of democratic socialism.
   8. 11

      To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).

   9. 12

      To cover intricately with bands, strips, or the like, so as to resemble lace.

      • The world we lived in was wide, and most of it was open to us with little trouble. Roads, railways, and shipping lines laced it, ready to carry one thousands of miles safely and in comfort.

The neighborhood