lasso
noun
a long rope or line of hide or other material with a running noose at one end, used for roping horses, cattle, etc.
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lasso
1 American
[las-oh, la-soo]
/ ˈlæs oʊ, læˈsu /
noun
-
lassos,
plural
-
lassoes
plural
verb (used with object)
-
lassos,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lassoed,
past participle, past
-
lassoing
present participle
Lasso
2
American
[lah-soh]
/ ˈlɑ soʊ /
noun
lasso
British
/ ˈlæsəʊ, læˈsuː /
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lassosimple
-
lassossimple
-
have lassoedperfect
-
has lassoedperfect
-
am lassoingprogressive
-
are lassoingprogressive
-
is lassoingprogressive
-
have been lassoingperfect progressive
-
has been lassoingperfect progressive
Past
-
lassoedsimple
-
had lassoedperfect
-
was lassoingprogressive
-
were lassoingprogressive
-
had been lassoingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lasso
1760–70; < Spanish lazo < Latin laqueus noose, bond; see lace
Explanation
A lasso is the loop of rope that cowboys use to catch cattle. To be a successful cowboy or cowgirl, you have to learn to throw a lasso while riding a galloping horse. The circle of rope is called a lasso. and to lasso is to use it to catch a runaway animal. A child might lasso her stuffed animals while riding a rocking horse, and during a rodeo, cowboys who specialize in "trick roping" use their lassos to do fancy spinning tricks. Lasso was coined in the U.S. around 1807, from the Spanish lazo, and its Latin root laqueum, both meaning "noose" or "snare."
Vocabulary lists containing lasso
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"My Wonder Horse" by Sabine R. Ulibarri
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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:
Gameway calls them wranglers because they are trained to lasso curious travelers heading for their gates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
But deputies also had a trick up their sleeve — a secret weapon that is part grappling gun, part lasso.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
There were plenty of cowboy hats inside Twickenham, honouring Kildunne and her trademark lasso celebration.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
This allows her to swing the hose up to spray water over her back with a movement like a lasso.
From NewsForKids.net ● Nov. 21, 2024
“Well, we’ve got some singers, a violin player, a kid who does these cool lasso tricks. Have you seen him?”
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
Sam was also pleasantly surprised by the newest season of Ted Lasso, which bounced back after its previous dreadful season.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
It sounds like Ted Lasso talking to AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Sudeikis shrugged, and, in classic Ted Lasso style, told her he thought she could do it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Enter Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis’ folksy Missourian loaded with cornpone wisdom, positivity and kindness.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
Guittone di Arezzo taught her to fix her thoughts in indelible signs, and two centuries of training culminated in the inspired composers, Orlando di Lasso and Pales-trina.
From The Great German Composers by George T. (George Titus) Ferris
Astrophysicist Elizabeth Tasker expertly lassoes the fast-moving field of extrasolar-planetary science for this crisp, witty primer-plus.
From Nature ● Sep. 5, 2017
That hoarse but extraordinarily agile voice lassoes every nuance in sight as he crows I Gotta Woman, pleads Don't Set Me Free and whispers Makin' Whoopee.
From Time Magazine Archive
Miro's wildly swooping lines looked as if they had been cast like lassoes into vast space.
From Time Magazine Archive
He is a cowboy, better known as the Death of the Western Hero: to strut his forlorn machismo he arrogantly lassoes garbage cans and jukeboxes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now guns and revolvers, lassoes and bolas, were seen to.
From Wild Life in the Land of the Giants A Tale of Two Brothers by Gordon Stables
Using long fishing poles with tiny lassos at their tips, they gently captured them by their strong necks, placed them in coolers, and documented the exact branch or stump where they found each lizard.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2023
The event, which dropped “film” from its name in 2021, lassos together all its media with the key word storytelling — a buzzy, often branded term.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
There was line dancing and trick ropers, twirling lassos and mechanical bulls, bucking riders and stilt-walkers.
From Slate ● May 30, 2023
The rider on horseback catches up and lassos Lester, which then runs into the median and hops a guardrail onto the freeway’s southbound shoulder before it is stopped.
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023
The grass, growing in three- foot tentacles, lassos his feet.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
The 33-year-old purred around out wide, scored the try that started the hosts' second-half blitz and lassoed Rotimi Segun with a crucial try-saving tackle before the break.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
During the roundup, Wilcox said he was able to free Frosty after he was lassoed by officers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2024
He was flushed from the pocket, stepped forward and scrambled to his left, then Edwards lassoed him and spun him to the ground.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2023
The camel visited several neighborhoods before being cornered and lassoed by an animal control officer.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 17, 2021
He lassoed a nasty patch of storm cloud and pulled it in.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
The winner of the recent Mexico City edition was a fresh-faced Kaled Rosales Salazar, who mimicked lassoing and leading his opponent, Quintana, like a horse, with a giant white sandal as a prop.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
While the sport of rodeo generally conjures up images of athletes riding bulls and lassoing animals, Whitemarsh’s Rascal Rodeo is all about adapting that experience for kids with special needs.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
Charging wildly across the rugged desert on horseback, hard-riding wranglers are lassoing the last of the Death Valley wild burros and dragging them into captivity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
Throwing a no-hitter, you could say, is like lassoing the moon.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2021
He could barely hear Glory’s thrilled whoops, like she was a cowgirl lassoing a bull.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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