laurence

[ lawr-uhns, lor- ]

/ ˈlɔr əns, ˈlɒr- /

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noun

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.Compare scintillation (def. 4).

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Origin of laurence

First recorded in 1790–1800; origin unknown

Words nearby laurence

Laurel and Hardy, laurel cherry, laurel family, laurel oak, Lauren, laurence, Laurence-Moon-Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Laurence-Moon syndrome, Laurencin, Laurens, Laurentian

Other definitions for laurence (2 of 2)

Laurence

[ lawr-uhns, lor- ]

/ ˈlɔr əns, ˈlɒr- /

noun

a male given name, form of Lawrence.

How to use laurence in a sentence

Just after the new year, Laurence penned “Atomic Power Being Tamed to Turn Industry’s Wheels,” looking back at 1953 as the year marking a transition from military to peaceful atomic energy, as if that had been the intent all along.
The Disneyfication of Atomic Power - Issue 107: The Edge|Jacob Darwin Hamblin|October 6, 2021|Nautilus
Subplots begin to pile atop one another as Laurence dodges one potential scandal and gets out ahead of another, using it to a publicity advantage.
With ‘Roadkill,’ PBS invites you to watch a narcissist politician who gets away with everything. How does that grab you?|Hank Stuever|October 30, 2020|Washington Post
His first theater role was as Friar Laurence in a UVA production of Romeo and Juliet.
Ben McKenzie’s Journey From Reluctant Teen Idol on ‘The O.C.’ to Sheriff of ‘Gotham’|Marlow Stern|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Laurence Fishburne is the titular character in the 1995 film of Othello.
Shakespeare’s Movie Magic|Marina Watts, Malcolm Jones|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Somewhere in the Afterlife, Laurence Sterne must have been tickled to see his fiendish book infused with new life.
Crazy Cartography: Artists and Writers Conjure a Slew of Imaginative Maps|Lauren Elkin|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My editor, the renowned Laurence Gandar, called me to his office to be questioned.
Mandela, My Source: One Journalist’s Memory of Clandestine Meetings|Benjamin Pogrund|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He's a live wire, Laurence: very, very intelligent and he can keep a whole unit bubbling along.
Meet ‘Inspector Lewis’: Kevin Whately on ‘Morse,’ John Thaw, and the End of the Series|Jace Lacob|June 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
John Laurence Berti, a learned monk of Tuscany, died; author of about 20 quarto volumes of divinity.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Laurence de Cinq-Cygne struggled valiantly against a cunning and redoubtable police-agency, the soul of which was Corentin.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
Laurence Corsini was elected pope by the conclave, after it had sat four months.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
An old and trusted servant, thoroughly devoted to his mistress, Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, whose fortunes he had always followed.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
She was conscious of the notion expressed by Friar Laurence: "These violent delights have violent ends."
Tess of the d'Urbervilles|Thomas Hardy

British Dictionary definitions for laurence

Laurence

/ (ˈlɒrəns) /

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012