noun

lap

lap, circuit, leg

The cat sat on my lap.

The cat sat on my lap.

He ran the final lap of the race.

He ran the final lap of the race.

((on sb.'s lap)) on someone's lap The cat sat on my lap.

((a lap of sth.)) a circuit of something He ran the final lap of the race.

Knees: knees; Circuit: circuit, round, loop

From Old English 'læppa' (skirt or flap of a garment). The sense 'circuit of a track' comes from the idea of one circuit 'overlapping' the next.

Imagine a laptop computer sitting on your lap. For the race meaning, think of 'overlapping' the start line each time.

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