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lace

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lays
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈleɪs

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. uncountable

    A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.

  2. countable

    A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly.

  3. A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net.

verb

  1. transitive

    To interweave items.

  2. transitive

    To beat; to lash; to make stripes on.

  3. transitive

    To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.

  4. transitive

    To cover intricately with bands, strips, or the like, so as to resemble lace.

  5. Add alcohol to (beverages)

  6. transitive

    To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly.

Used this way, lace is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Light / delicate

white lace

Cord

lace cap

Snare

gold lace

Other combinations

silver lacepoint lacelace curtainbobbin lacelace collar

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • lacedadjectiveInflected form

    Closed with a lace.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lace fernnounCompound term

    Small tufted fern of northwestern America.

  • lace bugnounCompound term

    Small bug having body and wings covered with a lacy network of raised lines.

  • lace-flower vinenounCompound term

    Low-growing creeping perennial of Central America having deeply fringed white flowers.

  • lace intoverbCompound term

    Hit violently, as in an attack.

  • lace makingnounCompound term

    The act or art of making handmade lace.

  • lace upverbCompound term

    Draw through eyes or holes.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.