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• laurence
  laurence

  noun

  a shimmering effect seen over a hot surface, such as a pavement or roadway, on a clear and calm day, caused by the irregular refraction of light.
• Laurence
  Laurence

  noun

  a male given name, form of Lawrence.

laurence

¹ American  

[lawr-uhns, lor-] / ˈlɔr əns, ˈlɒr- /

noun

1. Physics. a shimmering effect seen over a hot surface, such as a pavement or roadway, on a clear and calm day, caused by the irregular refraction of light.

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Laurence ² American  

[lawr-uhns, lor-] / ˈlɔr əns, ˈlɒr- /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Lawrence.

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Laurence British  

/ ˈlɒrəns /

noun

1. Margaret, full name Jean Margaret Laurence, 1926–87, Canadian novelist and short story writer; her novels include The Stone Angel (1964)

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Etymology

Origin of laurence

First recorded in 1790–1800; origin unknown

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Laurence

Next came the Daytime Emmy-winning TV series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” which ran from 1986 through 1990 and helped kick-start the careers of now well-known stars including Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne and S. Epatha Merkerson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor stressed that the men were subject to "stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others."

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Announcing the release on Monday of the five suspects, the head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, said the men "absolutely remain under investigation".

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

The longer you live, the more it typically makes sense to wait to collect, said Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economist whose company sells Social Security claiming software.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Laurence looked toward the source of the light, twenty miles to the southeast.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

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