English

Noun

lapper ‎(plural lappers)

1. One who laps liquid, who takes liquid in with the tongue.
   • 1913, William Atherton Du Puy, Uncle Sam, Wonder Worker, page ?:

     ...that recipient of the favors and caresses of the hearthstone, that lapper of milk from the national saucer, the cat.

   • 1827, ?, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, page 470:

     The pupils of the modern school discover in [the lion] but the crafty, cruel, and cowardly lapper of blood.

2. (in combination) something (especially a race) that is a stated number of laps e.g. a 25-lapper
   • 2001, Tim Bongard, Richard Petty: The Cars of the King, page ?:

     ...Richard Petty Private Collection outran Buck Baker's '62 Chrysler to win the 200-lapper. One week later, Jim Paschal finished second to race winner Junior.

3. (sports) A competitor who is one lap behind another, in the same race, and hence physically in front.
   • June 2006, RoadRacingWorld.com - Stanton Tops Formula Pacific Podium In Fourth Round Of AFM Racing At Thunderhill

     After he tangled with the lapper I thought, ‘Man, that sucks’,” Dorsey explained. “Then I realized I was in the lead! I was going to just cruise home..

4. A mechanism that overlaps material to make it thicker; a lapping cylinder or lapping machine
5. (sailing) A headsail that overlaps the mast.

Verb

lapper ‎(third-person singular simple present lappers, present participle lappering, simple past and past participle lappered)

1. To make a gentle splashing sound, as the sound of flowing water.
   • 1900?, S.R. Crockett, “XXXVII”, in The Red Axe, ISBN 0543961451, page 238:

     There was mockery of our foolhardy enterprise in the soft whispering sough of the water, as I heard it lapper beneath the ferry-boat that lay ready to cross to the other side.

Anagrams

• rappel

Norman

Etymology

Compare French laper.

Verb

lapper

1. (Jersey, onomatopoeia, transitive) to lap (a liquid)

Synonyms

• cliapoter