dewlap

D2E1W4L1A1P3
US/ˈdu.læp/US/ˈdju.læp/UK/ˈdjuː.læp/

noun

The pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal.

OriginMiddle English dewlappe ← Old English læppa →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

noundewlap (plural dewlaps)

plural dewlaps

  1. The pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal.

    1901 – 1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame.

    1 more example

    I need new clothes. Okay. How come? Because girls seem to like it when boys wear more than one type of shirt. Why is that? I guess so they can get a sense of your style. It says something about a person. Like how some iguanas flare their colorful dewlaps to attract a mate. Exactly... like that. I think.

    2017, Brian Tanen, “Julia Says” (5:30 from the start), in Michael Patrick Jann, director, Atypical, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Sam, Julia (Keir Gilchrist, Amy Okuda), via Netflix
  2. The sagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human.

    He ended up looking at himself in the mirror. His image stared back at him. He was developing a dewlap - a definite dewlap. He waggled under his chin scornfully with his fingers.

    2017, Bernard MacLaverty, “Chapter 2”, in Midwinter Break, page 36

Origin

  1. Old Englishlæppa“a loose hanging piece”
  2. Middle Englishdewlappe
  3. Englishdewlap

From Middle English dewlappe. The first element may be dew (and if not, seems to have been altered by folk etymology to resemble it); the second element is lap (“loose fabric”), Old English læppa (“a loose hanging piece”); compare jellop and jowlop (from jowl + lap), and dewclaw. Compare old Norwegian and Danish doglæp (the modern Danish word for "dew" is dug, but compare Old Norse dǫgg (“dew”) and Norwegian dogg). Old English instead terms such skin the frǣtlæppa (whence Middle English fresh-lappe).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek λωγάνιον
  • λωγάνιον (lōgánion)pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Arabic غَبَب, لُغْد
  • غَبَب (ḡabab)pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • لُغْد (luḡd)pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Catalan papada, papada
  • papadapendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • papadasagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Czech lalok, podbradek
  • lalokpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • podbradeksagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Dutch keelhuid
  • keelhuidpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Finnish helluvainen, kaksoisleuka
  • helluvainenpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • kaksoisleukasagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
French fanon
  • fanonpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
German Wamme, Kehlwamme
  • Wammependulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • Kehlwammependulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Hungarian lebeny, toka
  • lebenypendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • tokapendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • lebernyegpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • tokasagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Icelandic hes
  • hespendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Irish sprochaille, preiceall
  • sprochaillependulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • preiceallpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • preiceallsagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Italian pappagorgia, pappagorgia
  • pappagorgiapendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • pappagorgiasagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Latin paleāria
  • paleāriapendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Polish podgardle, łałok
  • podgardlependulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • łałokpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Portuguese papo, papada
  • papopendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • papadapendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Russian подгру́док, второ́й подборо́док
  • подгру́док (podgrúdok)pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • второ́й подборо́док (vtorój)sagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Scottish Gaelic sporan, caisean
  • sporanpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • caiseanpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Spanish papo, papada
  • papopendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • papadapendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • papadasagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Swedish dröglapp
  • dröglapppendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
Turkish gerdan, gıdık
  • gerdanpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • gıdıkpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • gıdıksagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Welsh tagell, tagell
  • tagellpendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal
  • tagellsagging flesh on the throat of an elderly human — see also double chin
Cite this entry
APA

dewlap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dewlap

MLA

“dewlap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dewlap. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dewlap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dewlap.

Source: dewlap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.