Lao
noun
a member of a people of Laos and northern Thailand.
Lao
American
[lou]
/ laʊ /
noun
-
Laos,
plural
-
Lao
plural
-
a member of a people of Laos and northern Thailand.
-
the Tai language of the Lao.
adjective
LAO
1
British
abbreviation
Lao
2
British
/ laʊ /
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Lao
First recorded in 1880–85; from Lao Láo, a self-designation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Zhu is survived by his wife, Lao An and two children.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Don’t skip dessert, either, and if you’re a coffee drinker, order the Lao coffee, served with condensed milk and a sugar cube on the side so you can customize the sweetness to your liking.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
Honworld Group, the holding company for cooking wine and soy sauce maker Lao Heng He in Zhejiang province, said household spending was weaker than expected, leading other brands to unload inventory at low prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
On Monday, Lao media reported that they had found the body of a woman, named Pany Her.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025
"First," Lao Lao said, "we must get a bottle of the finest wine and make a box of sweets."
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
The LAO told MarketWatch that it had not yet estimated the potential benefits from SpaceX’s plans.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
The LAO, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor, said the state has already solved $125 billion in budget problems over the last three years with mostly short-term solutions.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2026
The LAO advised lawmakers to increase revenue and reduce spending.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
Corporate tax collections are down 15% from last year, the fourth largest drop in the past 40 years, according to the LAO.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2024
Page 79: LAS is suspected to be a typo for LAO, as this name occurs only once.
From The Heroic Enthusiasts (Gli Eroici Furori) Part the Second An Ethical Poem by Giordano Bruno
Laos has banned the import of gasoline cars altogether for the rest of the year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The second species, Luffy nika, was found in Louang Namtha in northern Laos.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
Lee, who arrived in the United States as a refugee from Laos in 1980 and worked for years as a preschool teacher, said she loves watching her crops grow and handing them over to customers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The case will remain open for 15 years, but Bethany says she is "not expecting much" from the Laos legal system in future.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
An even more drastic linguistic upheaval must have swept over tropical Southeast Asia to the south of China—in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Peninsular Malaysia.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
