LACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lace mean? 

• LACE (noun)
  The noun LACE has 2 senses:

1. a cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment)

2. a delicate decorative fabric woven in an open web of symmetrical patterns

  Familiarity information: LACE used as a noun is rare.

• LACE (verb)
  The verb LACE has 5 senses:

1. spin, wind, or twist together

2. make by braiding or interlacing

3. do lacework

4. draw through eyes or holes

5. add alcohol to (beverages)

  Familiarity information: LACE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LACE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lace; lacing

Hypernyms ("lace" is a kind of...):

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lace"):

bootlace (a long lace for fastening boots)

shoe lace; shoe string; shoelace; shoestring (a lace used for fastening shoes)

Holonyms ("lace" is a part of...):

shoe (footwear shaped to fit the foot (below the ankle) with a flexible upper of leather or plastic and a sole and heel of heavier material)

Derivation:

lace (draw through eyes or holes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A delicate decorative fabric woven in an open web of symmetrical patterns

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lace" is a kind of...):

cloth; fabric; material; textile (artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lace"):

Brussels lace (fine lace with a raised or applique design)

filet (lace having a square mesh)

macrame (a relatively coarse lace; made by weaving and knotting cords)

bobbin lace; pillow lace (a handmade lace worked on a pillow with threads wound on bobbins; the pattern is marked out on the pillow by pins)

needlepoint; point lace (lace worked with a needle in a buttonhole stitch on a paper pattern)

Derivation:

lace (do lacework)

lace (make by braiding or interlacing)

lacy (made of or resembling lace)

• LACE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they lace    ... he / she / it laces   
Past simple: laced   
Past participle: laced   
-ing form: lacing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spin, wind, or twist together

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

enlace; entwine; interlace; intertwine; lace; twine

Context example:

intertwined hearts

Hypernyms (to "lace" is one way to...):

distort; twine; twist (form into a spiral shape)

Verb group:

twine (make by twisting together or intertwining)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lace"):

wind; wreathe (form into a wreath)

wattle (interlace to form wattle)

plash; pleach (interlace the shoots of)

knot; ravel; tangle (tangle or complicate)

splice (join by interweaving strands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make by braiding or interlacing

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

braid; lace; plait

Context example:

lace a tablecloth

Hypernyms (to "lace" is one way to...):

tissue; weave (create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric, such as wool or cotton)

Domain category:

handicraft (a craft that requires skillful hands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

lace (a delicate decorative fabric woven in an open web of symmetrical patterns)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Do lacework

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

The Flemish women were lacing in front of the cathedral

Hypernyms (to "lace" is one way to...):

tissue; weave (create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric, such as wool or cotton)

Domain category:

handicraft (a craft that requires skillful hands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They lace the cape

Derivation:

lace (a delicate decorative fabric woven in an open web of symmetrical patterns)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Draw through eyes or holes

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

lace; lace up

Context example:

lace the shoelaces

Hypernyms (to "lace" is one way to...):

bind; tie (fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord)

"Lace" entails doing...:

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lace"):

relace (lace again)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

lace (a cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment))

lacer (a workman who laces shoes or footballs or books (during binding))

lacing (a cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Add alcohol to (beverages)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fortify; lace; spike

Context example:

the punch is spiked!

Hypernyms (to "lace" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

lacing (a small amount of liquor added to a food or beverage)

 Context examples 

I see a young lady who pins her collar straight, laces her boots neatly, and neither whistles, talks slang, nor lies on the rug as she used to do.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I am growing great in Latin verses, and neglect the laces of my boots.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Streams might have laced the crater's walls, running toward its base.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)

But, on the contrary, their conversation was very grave, and filled out with many little bows, and opening and shutting of snuff-boxes, and flickings of laced handkerchiefs.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I can never bring you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her black satin dress, her scarf of rich foreign lace, and her pearl ornaments, pleased me better than the rainbow radiance of the titled dame.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Very little white satin, very few lace veils; a most pitiful business! Selina would stare when she heard of it.”

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The team collected blood samples from the meerkats, and measured DNA sections called telomeres that help protect DNA from damage – much like the plastic caps on shoe-laces.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

So you sent the letters to my husband, and he—the noblest gentleman that ever lived, a man whose boots I was never worthy to lace—he broke his gallant heart and died.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)