lariat

American  

[lar-ee-uht] / ˈlær i ət /

noun

• lariats
  plural

1. a long, noosed rope used to catch horses, cattle, or other livestock; lasso.

2. a rope used to picket grazing animals.

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lariat British  

/ ˈlærɪət /

noun

1. another word for lasso

2. a rope for tethering animals

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lariats
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of lariat

1825–35; < Spanish la reata the riata

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Explanation

A lariat is another word for a lasso, the loop of rope you'd use to catch a steer if you were a cowboy. While lariat and lasso can be used interchangeably, it's more common for U.S. cowboys to call the looped rope they throw around the necks of errant cattle a lariat (or simply a "rope") and to use lasso as a verb. If you want to fit in on a ranch, you might say, "Throw me that lariat so I can lasso that steer." Lariat comes from the Spanish la reata, "the rope."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lariat lariats

Recently, researchers at Brown University who were studying the locations of the joining sites in these lariats made an odd observation -- some introns were actually circular instead of lariat shaped.

From Science Daily ● May 10, 2024

The response, which included agents on horses, was broadly criticized after images of what appeared to be an agent using his lariat as a whip went viral.

From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2023

Didawick: This reminds me of when Harry did “Oklahoma!” on Broadway and spent enormous amounts of time studying with Montie Montana how to do the lariat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2022

A Reuters video showed a Border Patrol agent using what the news agency described as a lariat to whip at a Haitian migrant trying to enter the United States from Mexico.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2021

Presently a hulking, crazy-eyed man toting a stiff lariat appeared on the scene.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

The collection has eight pieces total, including necklaces, hoops, studs, rings, bracelets and lariats, set in sterling silver and recycled 18-karat gold.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2024

Recently, researchers at Brown University who were studying the locations of the joining sites in these lariats made an odd observation -- some introns were actually circular instead of lariat shaped.

From Science Daily ● May 10, 2024

Amir’s jewelry company sells a line of lariats, each one featuring a word or phrase.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2017

But the heroes of the gathering are the poet lariats … er, laureates … like fifth-generation California cattleman John Dofflemyer who rides herd in the southern Sierra foothills.

From Reuters ● Jan. 31, 2015

"I wish I'd a couple of lariats here," said Magruder, as he went back for the bed-linen.

From Vignettes of Manhattan; Outlines in Local Color by Brander Matthews

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