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.
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
Cinco de Mayo: Words to Celebrate Mexico
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Wonder Woman's Superpower Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"My Wonder Horse" by Sabine R. Ulibarri
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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
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
Wilcox said he yanked the lasso off Frosty’s neck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2024
Then she turned around and walked backward, waving her fur stole around her head like a lasso.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
A lot has changed, though, with the show shifting its focus to AFC Richmond’s women’s team, now led by, of course, Coach Lasso.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
The 54-year-old Pochettino is a benevolent Svengali with a whistle; Ted Lasso with an Argentine accent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
British actor Anthony Head, best known for his roles in TV shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ted Lasso, Merlin and Little Britain, has died at the age of 72.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
They are caricatured as tourists, or cowboys, or worse—Ted Lasso.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Palestrina's contemporaries, such as Lasso and some of his predecessors, wrote in the same style.
From The Century of Columbus by Walsh, James J.
Astrophysicist Elizabeth Tasker expertly lassoes the fast-moving field of extrasolar-planetary science for this crisp, witty primer-plus.
From Nature ● Sep. 5, 2017
The Pendleton Roundup Rodeo from Pendleton, Ore., lassoes together top cowboy contenders in this year's rodeo competition.
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
Revived at the City Center, it suffers less from the ravages of time than from the unsociableness of space: in that vast hall, the play's intimate, childlike mood never quite lassoes the audience.
From Time Magazine Archive
We were all greenhorns with the lassoes and lariats which we improvised.
From A Labrador Doctor The Autobiography of Wilfred Thomason Grenfell by Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir
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
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
Not to the police: “We do not use lassos nor do we plan to use them anytime in the future,” said Lt.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2017
He lassos it around DD’s legs, tying them together.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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
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
‘We’ve got this thing kind of lassoed, and we just need to keep holding on to it with what we’ve got,’ one official said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2021
He lassoed a nasty patch of storm cloud and pulled it in.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
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
Throughout the fiery video, a number of models — including the “Lemonade” artist herself — can be seen horseback riding, lassoing and straddling a bull swing while rocking an array of Ivy Park originals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2021
Rather than lassoing prospective investors, he turned many away.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2021
In 1937, a barge captain pulled a 4-foot, 8-inch alligator out of the East River by lassoing the animal around its “wildly waving forefeet,” reported The New York Herald Tribune.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2020
By lassoing himself to these girls, he might pull them down from the sky and out of their perfect elliptical orbit, throwing everything off-balance.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
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.
