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
Bounkham Luanglath of the Lao organisation Rescue Volunteer for People told the Associated Press the search for the missing would continue.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished,” Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Her indignation came to her in English, even as she recalled a Chinese saying, Lao xu cbeng nu — constant shame becomes anger.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
The LAO told MarketWatch that it had not yet estimated the potential benefits from SpaceX’s plans.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
A year later, consulting giant McKinsey one-upped the LAO, putting the state’s “housing shortfall” at 3.5 million houses, apartments and condos, a number Newsom campaigned on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2025
The LAO reported that the California economy has been in a gradual slowdown over the last two years, with about 25% more unemployed workers overall and declining trends in consumer spending.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 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 Australian Government is deeply frustrated and bitterly disappointed that authorities in Laos are not pursuing the most serious charges," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
During the Vietnam War, John and Marti Peterson spent three perilous years together in neighboring Laos, where John trained and advised a guerrilla army to fight the communist insurgency there.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
