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lace into

 - 5 dictionary results

lace

[leys] noun, verb, laced, lac⋅ing.
–noun
1. a netlike ornamental fabric made of threads by hand or machine.
2. a cord or string for holding or drawing together, as when passed through holes in opposite edges.
3. ornamental cord or braid, esp. of gold or silver, used to decorate uniforms, hats, etc.
4. a small amount of alcoholic liquor or other substance added to food or drink.
–verb (used with object)
5. to fasten, draw together, or compress by or as if by means of a lace.
6. to pass (a cord, leather strip, etc.), as through holes.
7. to interlace or intertwine.
8. to adorn or trim with lace.
9. to add a small amount of alcoholic liquor or other substance to (food or drink): He took his coffee laced with brandy.
10. to lash, beat, or thrash.
11. to compress the waist of (a person) by drawing tight the laces of a corset, or the like.
12. to mark or streak, as with color.
–verb (used without object)
13. to be fastened with a lace: These shoes lace up the side.
14. to attack physically or verbally (often fol. by into): The teacher laced into his students.

Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME las < OF laz, las ≪ L laqueus noose; (v.) ME lasen < MF lacier, lasser, lachier (F lacer) ≪ L laqueāre to enclose in a noose, trap


lacelike, adjective
lacer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To lace into
lace   (lās)   


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n.  
  1. A cord or ribbon used to draw and tie together two opposite edges, as of a shoe.

  2. A delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern. Also called lacework.

  3. Gold or silver braid ornamenting an officer's uniform.

v.   laced, lac·ing, lac·es

v.   tr.
  1. To thread a cord through the eyelets or around the hooks of.

    1. To draw together and tie the laces of.

    2. To restrain or constrict by tightening laces, especially of a corset.

    3. To add a touch of flavor to: "today's chefs love to lace their goods with lively, pronounced flavors" (David Rosengarten).

    4. To add a substance, especially an intoxicant or narcotic, to: laced the eggnog with rum and brandy.

    5. To add or intersperse with something in order to produce a certain effect: "Quacks now lace their pitch with scientific terms that may sound authentic to the uninformed" (Jane E. Brody).

  2. To pull or pass through; intertwine: lace garlands through a trellis.

  3. To trim or decorate with or as if with lace.

    1. To add a touch of flavor to: "today's chefs love to lace their goods with lively, pronounced flavors" (David Rosengarten).

    2. To add a substance, especially an intoxicant or narcotic, to: laced the eggnog with rum and brandy.

    3. To add or intersperse with something in order to produce a certain effect: "Quacks now lace their pitch with scientific terms that may sound authentic to the uninformed" (Jane E. Brody).

  4. To streak with color.

  5. To give a beating to; thrash: laced his opponent in the second round.

v.   intr.
To be fastened or tied with laces or a lace.
Phrasal Verb(s):
lace into Informal To attack; assail: laced into me for arriving so late.

[Middle English, from Old French las, noose, string, from Vulgar Latin *laceum, from Latin laqueus, noose; probably akin to lacere, to entice, ensnare.]
lace'less adj., lac'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
lace

  1. tv.
    to add alcohol to coffee or tea; to add alcohol to any food or drink. : Who laced the punch?
  2. tv.
    to add a bit of one drug to another; to add drugs to any food or drink. (Drugs.) : Somebody laced the ice cubes with acid.
  3. n.
    money. (Underworld.) : You got any lace in those pockets?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

lace 
c.1230, from O.Fr. las "a net, noose, string" (Fr. lacs), from V.L. *lacium, from L. laqueum (nom. laqueus) "noose, snare" (It. laccio, Sp. lazo), a trapping and hunting term, probably from Italic base *laq- "to ensnare" (cf. L. lacere "to entice"). The "ornamental net pattern" meaning is first recorded 1555. Sense of "cord for tying" remains in shoelace. To lace coffee, etc., with a dash of liquor (1677) was originally used of sugar, and comes via the notion of "to ornament or trim." Laced mutton was "an old word for a whore" [Johnson]. Lace-curtain "middle class" (or lower-class with middle-class pretensions) usually is used in ref. to Irish-Americans.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

lace into

Also, light into. Attack, assail, as in He laced into me for arriving late, or She lit into him for forgetting the tickets. The first of these colloquial terms employs lace in the sense of "beat up or thrash," a usage dating from the late 1500s. The idiom with light dates from the late 1800s and stems from the verb meaning "descend."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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