lace

American  

[lays] / leɪs /

noun

• laces
  plural

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, especially 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.

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verb (used with object)

• laces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• laced,
  past participle,  past
• lacing
  present participle

1. to fasten, draw together, or compress by or as if by means of a lace.

2. to pass (a cord, leather strip, etc.), as through holes.

3. to interlace or intertwine.

4. to adorn or trim with lace.

5. to add a small amount of alcoholic liquor or other substance to (food or drink).

   He took his coffee laced with brandy.

6. to lash, beat, or thrash.

7. to compress the waist of (a person) by drawing tight the laces of a corset, or the like.

8. to mark or streak, as with color.

verb (used without object)

• laces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• laced,
  past participle,  past
• lacing
  present participle

1. to be fastened with a lace.

   These shoes lace up the side.

2. to attack physically or verbally (often followed byinto ).

   The teacher laced into his students.

lace British  

/ leɪs /

noun

1. a delicate decorative fabric made from cotton, silk, etc, woven in an open web of different symmetrical patterns and figures

2. a cord or string drawn through holes or eyelets or around hooks to fasten a shoe or garment

3. ornamental braid often used on military uniforms, etc

4. a dash of spirits added to a beverage

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verb

1. to fasten (shoes, etc) with a lace

2. (tr) to draw (a cord or thread) through holes, eyes, etc, as when tying shoes

3. (tr) to compress the waist of (someone), as with a corset

4. (tr) to add a small amount of alcohol or drugs to (food or drink)

5. to streak or mark with lines or colours

   the sky was laced with red

6. (tr) to intertwine; interlace

7. informal (tr) to give a sound beating to

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lacer
  noun
• relace
  verb
• lacelike
  adjective
• well-laced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• laces
  plural

Participles

• lacing
  present
• laced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lace
  simple
• laces
  simple
• have laced
  perfect
• has laced
  perfect
• am lacing
  progressive
• are lacing
  progressive
• is lacing
  progressive
• have been lacing
  perfect progressive
• has been lacing
  perfect progressive

Past

• laced
  simple
• had laced
  perfect
• was lacing
  progressive
• were lacing
  progressive
• had been lacing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lace
  simple
• will have laced
  perfect
• will be lacing
  progressive
• will have been lacing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lace

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English las < Old French laz, las ≪ Latin laqueus noose; (v.) Middle English lasen < Middle French lacier, lasser, lachier ( French lacer ) ≪ Latin laqueāre to enclose in a noose, trap

Explanation

Your grandmother's kitchen curtains might be made from lace, a delicate fabric with twists and loops forming patterns of holes. Lace is often used for fancy dresses, special doilies and tablecloths, and decorative accents. You can also use the noun lace to describe the cord you tie your sneakers with, and the verb lace can mean twist or braid or intertwine: "The two friends lace their arms around each other and skip across the playground." Lace is surprisingly related to lasso, a loop of rope carried by a cowboy — both words are rooted in the Latin laqueus, "noose or snare."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lace laces laced lacing

From Fair Isle knitting to spinning, fleece preparation, weaving, lace knitting to wool skirting, there is a huge range for visitors to discover.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

The actress marked the occasion by donning a stunning lace Schiaparelli gown featuring long sleeves and a high neckline.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

In a realistic 1870s monument for a member of the Piaggio family, a dead man’s widow, shown leaving the door of a tomb, is wearing an elaborate lace shawl and mourning through her sculpted eyelashes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Chainlink necklaces, lace headpieces and even fringe bangs become a form of armor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Now I drift over to the counter displaying boring shirtwaists: rows and rows of white blouses with every imaginable variation of button or no button, lace or pleating.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

No longer an unknown, the treadmill phenom is eyeing a bigger prize when he laces up for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Hershey has faced similar litigation over other seasonal Reese’s candies, including ghost-shaped chocolates without depicted facial features and football-shaped candies that lacked the laces shown on their packaging.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

The director laces a 16th-century period drama with a series of mysteries in his latest film, which centers on a samurai who rebels against the local warlord.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

"It feels like you're wearing big winter gloves every day, all the time so you can't actually feel what you're doing like zips and buttons and laces on your shoes."

From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026

They’re applying Up gloss, fluffing up curls, tying sneaker laces.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

And Taylor Farms would certainly top the list for anyone glued to a toilet bowl lately, thanks to the company’s alleged indiscretion handling lettuce laced with the “explosive diarrhea” parasite.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

To some degree, the AI race is laced with inflation concerns for the stock market in the near term, as strong demand for chips has led to pricing power for companies that make them.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 5, 2026

Microplastics also get released into the environment when people use products laced with the particles.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Against the Phillies on Saturday night, Betts laced two singles and a double.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

The woman wears a dress something akin to a bridal gown constructed for a ballerina, white and frothy and laced with black ribbons that flutter in the night air.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Ilkay Gundogan executed his effort with perfection, lacing a ferocious, dipping strike into David de Gea's top corner, the Manchester United stopper only able to watch it fly in.

From BBC ● May 15, 2026

So he decides to keep appearing in clubs to tell tales of his relationship woes, lacing the commentary with rueful remarks that are vaguely comic, though nothing he says is actually funny.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

It also feels like a moment — to use a sports metaphor, which I’m not an athlete — that you’re lacing up your shoes.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2025

To be sure, the old standards of pumping iron and lacing up running shoes aren’t completely dead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2025

Once I knew the place was clear of cops, I pulled the silver shoes out and slipped them on my feet, lacing them up tight.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• fortify
• interweave
• mix
• spike
• strap