different between lace vs lase

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /le?s/
• Rhymes: -e?s

Etymology 1

From Middle English lace, laace, las, from Old French las, from Vulgar Latin *laceum, based on Latin laqueus. Doublet of lasso.

Noun

lace (countable and uncountable, plural laces)

1. (uncountable) A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. ^Wp
   • 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.

   • Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.

2. (countable) A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly. ^Wp

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

   • Vulcanus had caught thee [Venus] in his las.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Fairfax to this entry?)

4. (slang, obsolete) Spirits added to coffee or another beverage.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (cord):
  • (for a shoe): shoelace
  • (for a garment): tie

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English lacen, lasen, from Old French lacer, lacier, lasser, lachier, from the noun (see above).

Verb

lace (third-person singular simple present laces, present participle lacing, simple past and past participle laced)

1. (ergative) To fasten (something) with laces.

   • When Jenny's stays are newly laced.

2. (transitive) To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).
3. (transitive) To interweave items.
   • 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. (transitive) To interweave the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
5. (transitive) To beat; to lash; to make stripes on.
6. (transitive) To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

• ALEC, Acle, Alec, acle, alec, cale

Esperanto

Adverb

lace

1. wearily

Related terms

• laca

French

Verb

lace

1. first-person singular present indicative of lacer
2. third-person singular present indicative of lacer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of lacer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of lacer
5. second-person singular imperative of lacer

Anagrams

• cale, calé
• cela

Latin

Verb

lace

1. second-person singular present active imperative of laci?

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la.t?s?/

Noun

lace f

1. dative/locative singular of laka

Portuguese

Verb

lace

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of laçar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of laçar
3. first-person singular imperative of laçar
4. third-person singular imperative of laçar

Spanish

Verb

lace

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of lazar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of lazar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of lazar.

English

Etymology

Back-formation from laser, as if removing -er. Compare mase.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le?z/
• Homophones: lays, laze
• Rhymes: -e?z

Verb

lase (third-person singular simple present lases, present participle lasing, simple past and past participle lased)

1. (transitive) To use a laser beam on, as for cutting.

   The surgeon lased the elongated soft palate, cutting off the excess tissue and stopping the blood flow in one swipe.

   The physical chemist lased the atoms as they passed between the electrodes to study their motion.

   • 2010 (publication date), Daniel Lametti, "The Proton Gets Small(er)", Discover, ISSN 0274-7529, volume 32, number 1, January–February 2011, page 67:

     When a laser zaps an electron orbiting a proton, the electron undergoes what is called the Lamb shift, absorbing energy and jumping to a higher energy level. […] But instead of lasing electrons, Knowles examined protons with particles called muons, which he calls "the electron's fat cousin."

2. (intransitive) To operate as a laser, to release coherent light due to stimulation.

   Once enough of the gas particles are in a higher energy state, they will begin to lase and give off a coherent beam.

Anagrams

• ASLE, ELAS, Elsa, LAEs, LEAs, SEAL, Sale, Salé, Seal, Sela, aels, ales, leas, sale, seal, sela

Estonian

Alternative forms

• las

Verb

lase

1. second-person singular imperative of laskma

Usage notes

lase governs the adessive (verb in the infinitive), las governs the nominative (verb in corresponding person, in the present).

Inari Sami

Etymology

From Proto-Samic *lës?.

Noun

lase

1. addition, increase

Inflection

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino; Ruppel, Klaas; Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002-2008) Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages?^[1], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Latgalian

Etymology

Cognates include Latvian l?se and Lithuanian lašas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?las?æ/

Noun

lase f

1. drop (of a liquid)

References

• Nicole Nau (2011) A short grammar of Latgalian, München: LINCOM GmbH, ?ISBN

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?lase]

Verb

lase

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of l?sa
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of l?sa