Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

lisp

[lisp]
noun
  1. a speech defect consisting in pronouncing s and z like or nearly like the th-sounds of thin and this, respectively.
  2. Phonetics. any unconventional articulation of the sibilants, as the pronunciation of s and z with the tongue between the teeth (lingual protrusion lisp), close to or touching the upper front teeth (dental lisp), or raised so that the breath is emitted laterally (lateral lisp).
  3. the act, habit, or sound of lisping.
Show More
verb (used with or without object)
  1. to pronounce or speak with a lisp.
  2. to speak imperfectly, especially in a childish manner.
Show More

Origin of lisp

before 1100; Middle English wlispen, lipsen, Old English āwlyspian; akin to Dutch lisp(el)en, German lispeln, Norwegian leipsa
Related formslisp·er, nounlisp·ing·ly, adverbun·lisp·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

sputter, stutter, mispronounce

Examples from the Web for lisping

Historical Examples

  • When the lisping lips of my young child asked me, "Papa, who made me?"

    The Meaning of Evolution

    Samuel Christian Schmucker

  • He had then, the defects of lisping and stammering which we, often turned into ridicule.

  • "Say 'Our Father,'" he used to demand of the lisping infant when he had her alone with him.

    Jennie Gerhardt

    Theodore Dreiser

  • If it did, I should be lisping "husband, husband, husband" from cock-crow to owl's cry.

  • When they returned the child offered me the bowl, lisping in a charming manner.

    Lost Diaries

    Maurice Baring

British Dictionary definitions for lisping

lisp

noun
  1. the articulation of s and z like or nearly like the th sounds in English thin and then respectively
  2. the habit or speech defect of pronouncing s and z in this manner
  3. the sound of a lisp in pronunciation
Show More
verb
  1. to use a lisp in the pronunciation of (speech)
  2. to speak or pronounce imperfectly or haltingly
Show More
Derived Formslisper, nounlisping, adjective, nounlispingly, adverb

Word Origin

Old English āwlispian, from wlisp lisping (adj), of imitative origin; related to Old High German lispen

LISP

noun
  1. a high-level computer-programming language suitable for work in artificial intelligence
Show More

Word Origin

C20: from lis (t) p (rocessing)
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

Word Origin and History for lisping

lisp

v.

late Old English awlyspian "to lisp," from wlisp (adj.) "lisping," probably of imitative origin (cf. Middle Dutch, Old High German lispen, Danish læspe, Swedish läspa). Related: Lisped; lisping.

Show More

lisp

n.

1620s, from lisp (v.).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
lisping in Medicine

lisp

(lĭsp)
n.
  1. A speech defect or mannerism characterized by mispronunciation of the sounds (s) and (z) as (th) and (th).
Show More
v.
  1. To speak with a lisp.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.