lave

present singular third person laves · participle present laving · participle past laved · past laved · first person past singular laved · archaic present second person singular lavest · past second person singular laved · archaic past second person singular lavedst · present singular third person laves · archaic present singular third person laveth · past singular third person laved · past plural laved · past subjunctive laved · participle present laving · participle past laved

1. transitiveTo bathe or wash (someone or something).

   VVith Nectar pure his oozy Lock's he laves.

   1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 64

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   [M]y houſe vvithin the City / Is richly furniſhed vvith plate and gold, / Baſons and evvers to laue her dainty hands: […]

   c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 217, column 2

   [W]e muſt laue / Our Honors in theſe flattering ſtreames, / And make our Faces Vizards to our Hearts, / Diſguiſing vvhat they are.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 140, column 2

   [F]rom my vveary'd limbs I lave / The foul pollution of the briny vvave: […]

   1725, Homer, “Book VI”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume II, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 77, lines 259–260

   Thanks be to God! He laveth the thirsty land! The waters gather; they rush along; they are lifting their voices.

   1846 August 26 (first performance), [Julius Schubring, librettist]; Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, composer, translated by [William Bartholomew], Elijah: A Sacred Oratorio. […], Boston, Mass.: Oakes & Darling, […], published 1851, 1st part, page 3, column 2

   Rita stripped in haste and padded out to the wash-basin and lathered her body all over and laved it several times in fresh water before feeling she had washed off it a contact with Mrs Dibble's dirty old carcass, which shocked the self-esteem of her own shapely body.

   1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 31

2. transitiveOf a river or other water body: to flow along or past (a place or thing); to wash.

   [S]o oft the flood, / Jove's offspring, laved his ſhoulders.

   1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XXI.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 560, lines 317–318

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   VVith roomy decks, her Guns of mighty ſtrength, / (VVhoſe lovv-laid mouthes each mounting billovv laves:) / Deep in her draught, and vvarlike in her length, / She ſeems a Sea-vvaſp flying on the vvaves.

   1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, stanza 153, page 39

   Scamandrius vvas his name, vvhich Hector gave, / From that fair flood [the Scamander or Karamenderes River] vvhich Ilion's vvall did lave: […]

   a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache. From the Sixth Book of the Iliad.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 451

   [M]ild Parthenope’s delightful Shore, / VVhere huſh'd in Clams the bord’ring Ocean laves / Her ſilent Coaſt, and rolls in languid VVaves; […]

   1705, J[oseph] Addison, “Naples”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 215

   Delicious is your Shelter to the Soul, / As to the hunted Hart the ſallying Spring, / Or Stream full-flovving, that his ſvvelling Sides / Laves, as He floats along the Herbag'd Brink.

   1727, James Thomson, Summer. A Poem, […] J[ohn] Millan, […], →OCLC, page 34

   Pleas'd I look back and vievv the tranquil tide / That laves the pebbled shore.

   1789, W[illiam] L[isle] Bowles, “Sonnet I. Written at Tinemouth, Northumberland, after a Tempestuous Voyage.”, in Sonnets, […] with Other Poems, 3rd edition, Bath, Somerset: […] R. Cruttwell; and sold by C[harles] Dilly, […], published 1794, →OCLC, page 3

3. transitiveFollowed by into, on, or upon: to pour (water or some other liquid) with or as if with a ladle into or on someone or something; to lade, to ladle.

   Then the Lead being melted, […] it is laved into the Pan, […]

   1703, Richard Neve, “Lead”, in The City and Country Purchaser, and Builder’s Dictionary: Or, The Compleat Builders Guide. […], 2nd edition, London: […] D. Browne, […]; J. and B. Sprint […], G. Conyers […]; and Ch[arles] Rivington […], published 1726, →OCLC, column 2

4. figurativelytransitiveTo remove (something), as if by washing away with water.

   And now, she sat down under the leafless tree, to weep; and in those bitter tears, childhood itself was laved from her soul for ever.

   1843, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Broken Gittern”, in The Last of the Barons, volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Adventures of Master Marmaduke Nevile), page 36

5. figurativelytransitiveTo surround or gently touch (someone or something), as if with water.

   [W]hen the midnight moon did lave / Her forehead in the silver wave, / How solemn on the ear would come / The holy mattin's distant hum, […]

   1810, Walter Scott, “Canto I. The Chase.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XV, page 19

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   Approach, encompassing Death—strong Deliveress! / When it is so—when thou hast taken them, I joyously sing the dead, / Lost in the loving, floating ocean of thee, / Laved in the flood of thy bliss, O Death.

   1865 (indicated as 1865–1866), Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps. […] When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d. And Other Pieces, Washington, D.C.: Gibson Brothers, […], →OCLC, canto 16, stanza 21, page 10

6. figurativelytransitiveChiefly in sexual contexts: to lick (someone or something).

   He continued to lave her with gentle laps, while his fingers caressed her until she cried out and her whole body convulsed.

   2011, Karen Foley, chapter 8, in Devil in Dress Blues, Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 111

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   "Who could resist such a temptation?" he drawled, and bent to lave each nipple with his tongue till the satin was wet and clinging.

   1998, Miranda Lee, The Boss’s Baby, Richmond, Surrey: Harlequin Mills & Boon, →ISBN, page 102

   Liam's mouth was so hot and wet on his cock, his tongue so wicked, laving his shaft expertly with smooth, slick strokes, delving into his slit and swiping away the fluid leaking from it. Why was Liam doing this?

   2014 February 21, Scarlet Blackwell, Beached Hearts, Lincoln, Lincolnshire: Total-E-Bound Publishing, →ISBN

7. archaicobsoletetransitiveFollowed by out or up: to draw or scoop (water) out of something with a bucket, scoop, etc.; specifically, to bail (water) out of a boat.

   [W]hen I haue laved the Sea dry, thou ſhalt vnderſtand the myſtery of the Trinity; […]

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “An Heape of Other Accidents Causing Melancholy. Death of Friends, Losses, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 2, member 4, subsection 7, page 148

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   Thou haſt plaid muſique to my dolefull ſoule; / And vvhen my heart vvas tympaniz'd vvith griefe, / Thou lauedſt out ſome into thy heart from mine, / And kept it ſo from burſting; […]

   c. 1613–1618 (first performance), Thomas Goffe, The Tragedy of Orestes, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Richard Meighen, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act IIII, scene ii, signature F2, verso

   And now, as we were weary with pumping and laving out the water [from the boat], almost sinking, it pleas'd God on the suddaine to appease the wind, and with much ado and greate perill we recover'd the shore, which we now kept in view, […]

   1644 October 24 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 15 October 1644]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 73

   Each in his vvay, officiously they vvrought; / Some ſtovv their Oars, or ſtop the leaky Sides, / Another bolder yet the Yard beſtrides, / And folds the Sails; a fourth vvith Labour, laves, / Th'intruding Seas, and VVaves ejects on VVaves.

   1700, [John] Dryden, “Ceyx and Alcyone”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 365

8. intransitivereflexiveTo bathe or wash.

   Happy he that ſips Eternally ſuch Nectar dovvn, that unconfin'd may Lave, and VVanton there in ſateleſs Draughts of ever ſpringing Beauty— […]

   1700 (date written), Colley Cibber, Love Makes a Man: Or, The Fop’s Fortune. A Comedy. […], London: […] Richard Parker […], Hugh Newman […], and E. Rumbal […], published 1701, →OCLC, Act II, page 19

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   The ſilver Stream her Virgin Coldneſs keeps, / For ever murmurs, and for ever vveeps; / […] / In her chaſt Current oft the Goddeſs laves, / And vvith Celeſtial Tears augments the VVaves.

   1713, [Alexander] Pope, Windsor-Forest. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 9

9. figurativelyintransitiveTo surround as if with water.
10. figurativelyintransitiveChiefly in sexual contexts; followed by at: to lick.

    [I]t took only a few moments of his tongue laving at her core before she was exploding in a mind-drugging climax that made her throat sore from her cries.

    2016 April 15, Elizabeth Lennox, chapter 9, in The Prince’s Forbidden Lover (The Samara Royal Family Series; 3), [S.l.]: Elizabeth Lennox Books, →ISBN

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    Alexander went from laving at her breasts to nuzzling her belly and then his mouth was on her bare thigh, nibbling at her flesh as his fingers delved inside her sheath. She felt herself stretch and squeeze against his long fingers.

    2011, Eliza Knight, chapter 10, in A Lady’s Charade (The Rules of Chivalry; 1), [South Carolina]: CreateSpace Independent, →ISBN, page 122

    He pressed them back down and continued licking, laving at her as her inner muscles contracted around his fingers and she panted out his name. He didn't relent until the last shudder rippled through her beautiful body.

    2015, Melissa Foster, Healed by Love (Love in Bloom; The Bradens at Peaceful Harbor; 1), Los Gatos, Calif.: Smashwords, →ISBN

plural laves

1. An act of bathing or washing; a bath or bathe, a wash.

   Once more Arion and his loving nymph / Together rest within their summer cave, / In the green woodland, where the crystal lymph / Through sands and ivy pulsed with ceaseless lave.

   1865 September, “Glimpses of Greek Fableland. Arion’s Return.”, in Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume LXVI, number CCCXCIII, Dublin: George Herbert, […]; London: Hurst & Blackett, →OCLC, page 350

2. alsofigurativelyrareThe sea.

   When Nature, languid, seems to rest, / Nor moves a leaf, nor heaves a wave, / And Zephyrs sleep, by Sol caress'd, / And sportive swallows skim the lave; […]

   1826, Bernard Blackmantle [pseudonym; Charles Molloy Westmacott], “Noon in the Isle of Wight”, in The English Spy: […], volume II, London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, […], →OCLC, page 168

alternative lafe · alternative laif · alternative law

1. uncountableThat which is left over; a remainder, a remnant, the rest.

   [A]uld Mucklebacket's gane wi' the lave—muckle gude he'll do!

   Old Mucklebucket's gone with the rest—much good he'll do!

   1816, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in The Antiquary. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 334

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   Of prelates proud, a populous lave, / And abbots boldly there vvere known. / VVith Biſhop of St. Andrevv's brave, / VVho vvas King James's baſtard ſon.

   16th – early 17th century (date written), “Part I. Fit I. Stanza CXXVII.”, in An Exact and Circumstantial History of the Battle of Floddon. […], Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland: […] R. Taylor; London: E[dward] and C[harles] Dilly […], and G. Freer, […], published 1774, →OCLC, page 31

   The Mother, vvi' a vvoman's vviles, can ſpy / VVhat makes the Youth ſae baſhfu' and ſae grave; / VVeel-pleas'd to think her bairn's reſpected like the lave.

   1785–1786 (date written; published 1786), Robert Burns, “The Cotter’s Saturday Night”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, stanza VIII, page 7

   [D]inna vex him ony mair, I'll pay the lave out o' the butter siller, and nae mair words about it.

   Don't vex him any more, I'll pay the rest out of the butter silver, and no more words about it.

   1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XIX, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume II (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 138

   [T]hey ca' it fasting when they hae the best o' fish frae Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forbye trouts, gilses, salmon, and a' the lave o't, and so they make their very fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

   They call it fasting when they have the best of fish from Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forby [i.e., besides] trouts, grilses, salmon, and all the rest of it, and so they make their fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

   1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [VI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 133

   Noo, Annie, pit on yer bonnet, an' gang to the schuil wi' the lave (rest); an' be a good girrl.

   No, Annie, put on your bonnet, and go to the school with the rest; and be a good girl.

   1865, George Mac Donald, chapter IX, in Alec Forbes of Howglen. […], volume I, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 53

   Synonyms: residue, leavings, leftover, ort, relic, remainder, remains, remanent

2. rareuncountableA relict, a widow.

1. not comparableobsoleteChiefly in lave ears: of ears: drooping, hanging down.

   And I ſvveare by the bloud of my codpiece, / An I vvere a vvoman I vvould lug off his laue eares, / Or run him to death vvith a ſpit: […]

   1606, A Pleasant Comedie. Called Wily Beguilde. […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Clement Knight […], →OCLC, page 58

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   [C]omplexion here red, there tavvny, in another Country black vvins the prize: for proportion, here the tall, there the mean, here the ſlender, there the groſs, here the little Ear, there the lave Ear, here the thin Lip, there the Blubber-lip, here the ſtreight, there the die Neck are eſteemed moſt courtly.

   1675, John Smith, “Reason Nonplus’d, Help’d by Religion, Acquiesceth in Her Resolutions”, in Christian Religion’s Appeal from the Groundless Prejudices of the Sceptick, to the Bar of Common Reason. […], London: […] Nathanael Brook, […], →OCLC, 2nd book (The Apostles were Not Themselves Deluded, No Crack’d-brain Enthusiasticks, but Persons of Most Composed Minds), §. 1 (Man’s Supremacy over the Creatures, the Reason of It Not Cognoscible by Natural Light), pages 8–9

present singular third person laves · participle present laving · participle past laved · past laved

1. intransitiveobsoleterareOf ears: to droop, to hang down.

   His mouth ſhrinks ſidevvard like a ſcornfull Playſe / To take his tired Eares ingratefull place; / His Eares hang lauing like a nevv-lug'd ſvvine / To take ſome counſell of his grieued eyne, […]

   1598, [Joseph Hall], “Lib[er] 4. Sat[yr] 1. Che baiar Vuol, bai.”, in Virgidemiarum. The Three Last Bookes. Of Byting Satyres, London: […] Richard Bradocke for Robert Dexter […], →OCLC, page 7