lather
1 Americannoun
-
foam or froth made by a detergent, especially soap, when stirred or rubbed in water, as by a brush used in shaving or by hands in washing.
-
foam or froth formed in profuse sweating, as on a horse.
-
Informal. a state of excitement, agitation, nervous tension, or the like.
He was in a lather over my delay.
verb (used without object)
-
lathers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lathered,
past participle, past
-
lathering
present participle
-
to form a lather.
a soap that lathers well.
-
to become covered with lather, as a horse.
verb (used with object)
-
lathers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lathered,
past participle, past
-
lathering
present participle
-
to apply lather to; cover with lather.
He lathered his face before shaving.
-
Informal. to beat or whip.
noun
noun
-
foam or froth formed by the action of soap or a detergent in water
-
foam formed by other liquid, such as the sweat of a horse
-
informal a state of agitation or excitement
verb
-
to coat or become coated with lather
-
(intr) to form a lather
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lathersimple
-
latherssimple
-
have latheredperfect
-
has latheredperfect
-
am latheringprogressive
-
are latheringprogressive
-
is latheringprogressive
-
have been latheringperfect progressive
-
has been latheringperfect progressive
Past
-
latheredsimple
-
had latheredperfect
-
was latheringprogressive
-
were latheringprogressive
-
had been latheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lather1
before 950; Middle English; Old English lēathor soap; cognate with Old Norse lauthr ( Icelandic löthur ) lather, foam
Origin of lather2
Explanation
A lather is the froth soaps and detergents produce. Lathering also means to soap yourself up, and a lather can be a state of extreme agitation. When you're taking a shower, you make the soap frothy: this is a lather, and you're lathering when you create it. Rubbing soap on your body is also called lathering. Since lather is a stirred-up form of soap, it can also apply to emotions that have been stirred up. Someone upset is in a lather. Getting in a lather usually results from worry or anger, and it's an unpleasant state of mind.
Vocabulary lists containing lather
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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:
But you might have no idea if you’ve been listening to hockey-ignorant media dopes like me lather attention on the incoming World Cup and the East Coast-pleasing, media-hub Knicks-Spurs NBA final.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
The apes picked leaves, chewed them into a green-white lather, and rubbed the substance onto their arms and legs.
From Science Magazine ● May 1, 2024
In tests comparing the products' foaming and cleansing abilities, the researchers found that the spun shampoo's lather lasted longer and cleaned human hair more thoroughly.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
But the experience left him in a lather, and feeling sorry for DMV employees manning the daily conveyor belt of human misery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2024
The other members of the varsity were screaming, whipping themselves up into a lather now that the season had officially started and they were strutting their skills before the newcomers.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Now he says he's frightened by the sun and lathers himself up in SPF before even thinking about stepping outdoors.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
And cosmetic companies were captivated by its miracle properties: It foams in toothpaste, moisturizes soaps and lathers in shampoo.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 18, 2020
And cosmetic companies, which were shifting away from animal- or petroleum-based ingredients, were captivated by its miracle properties: It foams in toothpaste and shaving gel, moisturizes soaps and lathers in shampoo.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2020
Because you don’t have to apply foams or lathers before use, it’s also the quickest way to go.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2019
"Whenever highborn girls came into the shop with their lathers, my master told me I was to bend the knee, and speak only when they spoke to me, and call them m’lady."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
She ate more black beans, lathered her scalp with French soap and opted for root perms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
Shinichirō Watanabe's vision marries futuristic visuals with realism, with the series' jazz score treated as something to be felt and then absorbed, like dry skin lathered in shea butter.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2025
Yet the only Wild Unknown deck on her bookshelf is the very first she printed — her “OG deck,” as she calls it, its box now lathered in black paint.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024
Before the snow covered the ground, layers of brine, a very high concentration of salty water, were lathered onto the roads to prevent hard layers of snow from becoming hardly packed.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2022
The mare stood quietly in the middle of the road, lathered and exhausted.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
So, thanks to my time in the scanner, I am now far more enthusiastic about lathering sunscreen all over my body - rather than only on my face.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Hers is a labor-intensive process, teasing out the dough, lathering on the praline filling, and then letting the cakes rest and rise for several hours.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
Other water-saving actions include turning off the shower/faucet while lathering or brushing teeth and installing a greywater recycling system.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 25, 2023
It can also be helpful to use shampoo with warm instead of hot water, since lathering with hot water can remove too much oil from the scalp, Alam said.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
Alyce, coughing and sputtering, traded jobs with the man who was lathering their backs.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
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.
