lace

American  

[leys] / 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

She wears a pearl-trimmed French hood; a dark, square-necked gown with white lace, gold and pearl trim; a pearl necklace; and, with one exception, a pearl necklace with the pendant initials “AB” or “B.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Women in lace mantillas and gold jewelry pass on their way to somewhere ornate.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

Since then, several technical studies and two test trips with a full-scale reproduction of the tapestry have been undertaken to meet the logistical challenge of transporting a work as delicate as lace.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

They said no DNA belonging to their client had been found on key exhibits in recent tests, including the lace.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

And this magician does not hide handkerchiefs within his lace shirt cuffs.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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

Each hub brought together suppliers of laces, soles and fabric, as well as logistics firms that help to quickly turn designs into store-ready products and ship them out.

From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026

Heading into the exhibition I was eager to see what 18th-century ribbons and laces if not frock coats and gowns would be displayed as ancillary objects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

On paper, the dialogue may seem stiff and silly, but Lewis laces these words with enough sorrow to fill the room.

From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026

"I wish you'd tie those laces, dear," Gram says when I'm squishing around in the new shoes.

From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick

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

A couple of days later, I was in our nation’s seat of power, the Florsheims in question laced firmly onto my feet.

From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026

He laced his fingers through hers and started in.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez

On Saturday, Belfast's Agyarko gets the opportunity he has craved since first lacing up the gloves when he faces IBF light-middleweight champion Josh Kelly in Saudi Arabia.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

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

He said that in 15 years of lacing up his cleats, he could only recall one minor muscle pull.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2025

Trying to interlace, like a clutched desperate prayer, but again, I feel like the hands I am lacing are not my own, like I have borrowed them from a twelve-fingered monster.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Related Words

• fortify
• interweave
• mix
• spike
• strap