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.

---

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

---

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

Today Renoir’s light-filled paintings of the creamy-skinned Cahen d’Anvers girls, in frothy white lace and pastel satin, are seen as masterpieces of Impressionism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 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

Hence her association with the British artist Rogan Brown, well represented here, whose spectacular laser-cut fantasias suggest Elizabethan lace on steroids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Fairs says she has received thousands of messages from women about how her content has encouraged them to lace up their trainers, and believes recent trends of female success in ultra-running are just the start.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

She was wearing a lace dress and the lace kept tickling my nose.

From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

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

Alphie told The Nolan Show that Donall brushes his teeth three times and check his laces six times before he is ready for the day.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 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

When I found her a new pair of tennis shoes with rosy laces, she actually wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me, like she could squeeze the thanks into me.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

He cautioned, however, that the path forward was still laced with uncertainty about how markets would evolve around the technology.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

But the document was laced with malicious software.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

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

The NBA’s very best teams tend to be led by generational superstars who have been anointed as basketball demigods since they first laced up their sneakers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

A TB epidemic, laced with MDR, had occurred in New York City in the late 1980s, largely targeting prisons, homeless shelters, and public hospitals.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

And on Sunday night, as America was heating up nachos for Super Bowl parties, Team USA’s skaters were lacing up for their own winner-take-all showdown.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

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

Then, Smith came through again in the ninth, lacing a go-ahead, two-out RBI double off the wall in left that scored pinch-runner James Outman all the way from first base.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025

He admits to targeting another summer or two as an England player, but doubts he will follow Anderson lacing up the boots into his fifth decade.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025

“Tell her I read her post, and that I had no idea she would take everything so seriously,” Meg says, lacing her arm behind James.

From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• fortify
• interweave
• mix
• spike
• strap

---