▪ I. lappet, n.
(ˈlæpɪt)
Also 7–8 lappit.
[f. lap n.1 + -et1.]
1. a. A loose or overlapping part of a garment, forming a flap or fold.
| 1573 Twyne æneid xi. Kk j b, The yelowish silken weed,..Whose lappets ratling large in knot of costly gold were tyde. 1676 Grew Anat. Flowers i. §3 (1682) 164 Or as Taylors use to split their Stomachers into several Lappets, to spread. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) II. ii. 85 He threw out of the lappet of his robe, in the midst of the senate, some African figs. 1866 J. G. Murphy Comm. Ex. xxviii. 8 It was a shoulder-piece..or single lappet covering the back and reaching under the arm. |
b. gen. A part of anything that hangs loose; a flap; a key-hole guard.
| 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1215/4 Lost in Easter Term 1676, an Almanack bound with red Leather with a Lappet tyed over with a red Ribon. 1780 Phil. Trans. LXX. App. 32, I..covered everything well with the lappets of the rag. 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. iii. 174 The little lappet of tin-foil can be so doubled as to shorten the aperture. 1885 C. Gibbon Hard Knot I. xv. 212 He closed the door,..bolted it, and drew the porcelain ‘lappet’ over the key-hole. |
2. a. A fold or pendent piece of flesh, skin, membrane, etc. (
cf. lap n.1 2).
| 1605 Timme Quersit. i. xiii. 66 The salts of mynt and worme-wood are good to purge the lappets and tunicles of the stomach. 1705 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXV. 1955 A thin furrowed lappet exerts itself near 1/4 of an inch from the side of the Shell. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 446 Slender laciniæ or lappets fringed with hair. 1861 J. R. Greene Man. Anim. Kingd., Cœlent. 218 The apical appendages, or lappets, of some Beroidæ. 1865 Jeffreys Brit. Conchol. III. 320 Mantle thin and semitransparent,..lappets large in proportion, forming two saucer-shaped lobes, one on each side of the tentacles. 1871 Darwin Desc. Man II. viii. 72 The fleshy appendages about the head of the male Tragopan pheasant swell into a large lappet on the throat. |
b. A lobe of the ear, liver, lungs, etc.
| 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxv. iii. 264 An horsemans jauelin..stucke fast in the neather lappet or fillet of his liuer. 1628 Sir R. Le Grys tr. Barclay's Argenis 91 The naturall order being broken the lappets of it [the liuer] did appeare out of their owne place. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 95 The Malabars both men and women, the lappets of their Eares are open. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. iv. 49 The Lights never cease with its Lappets and Bellows to cool and refresh it [the Blood]. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xxxvii. 56 Their Ears large, and the Lappets very thick. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 52 A triangular lappet, the so-called ‘columellar lobule’. |
3. The flap or skirt (of a coat). Also, the lapel.
| 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. i. 100 Lifting up the lappet of his coat. 1812 J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 142 He had no pockets to this coat, unless you may call the flannel such which interiorly lined the lappets. 1843 Borrow Bible in Spain 324 A grey kerseymere coat with short lappets. 1883 D. C. Murray Hearts I. 3 Laying hold of him by the lappet of the coat. |
4. An appendage or pendant to head-gear of any kind;
esp. one of the streamers attached to a lady's head-dress. Also, in clerical attire,
= band n.3 4 b.
| c 1720 Duke of Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 367 Four pinners with..eight lappets hanging down behind. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. liii. 297 Two strings or lappets of pearl depended on either cheek. 1787 J. King Bath Rules in Guide Water. Places (1806) 30, 3dly, That ladies who intend dancing minuets do wear lappets. 1851 Layard Pop. Acc. Discov. Nineveh xiii. 324 With the addition of lappets falling over the ears. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola x, The black cloth berretta, or simple cap with upturned lappet. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 401 A sealskin cap with ear lappets. 1869 Daily News 30 Jan., He wore the black gown and white lappets of the church of England. 1876 H. N. Humphreys Coin Coll. Man. xii. 147 A kind of tiara, with a singular striped or plaited lappet falling down at the back. 1879 ‘Hesba Stretton’ Thro. Needle's Eye I. 151 Mrs. H...tossed the long lappets of her lace cap behind her shoulders. |
| transf. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 229 They [goats] have two lappets, locks or plaits as it were of haire, hanging downe along their bodie on either side from their neck. |
5. Short for
lappet-moth.
| 1857 H. T. Stainton Brit. Butterflies & Moths I. 157 Gastropacha quercifolia (Lappet). 1862 E. Newman Brit. Moths (1869) 45 The Lappet (Lasiocampa quercifolia). Ibid. 46 The Small Lappet (Lasiocampa ilicifolia). |
6. Weaving.
a. A figure produced on cloth during lappet-weaving; also, cloth bearing such figures, lappet-cloth.
| 1863 J. Watson Theory & Pract. Art of Weaving vi. 207 The framing of a power-loom for weaving Lappets is nearly the same as the framing of one for plain cloth. Ibid. 227 In working lappets with the jacquard machine, the length of the figure will depend upon the number of cards used. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 109/2 For window-curtains, hangings, &c., there are manufactured harness and book muslins, lenos, sprigs, spots, and lappets. 1920 R. Beaumont Union Textile Fabrication ix. 304 Combinations of Lappet and Gauze.—Pattern origination in gauze, lappet, and plain or straight weaving, provides for additional changes in the materials of which the yarns are spun. The lappet (dark sections in Fig. 187) being a surface warp yarn is quite a supplementary element. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 460/2 Crossed Weaving.—This group includes all fabrics, such as gauzes, in which the warp threads intertwist amongst themselves to give intermediate effects between ordinary weaving and lace. Also those, such as Lappets, in which some warp threads are laid transversely..to imitate embroidery. |
b. A mechanism for producing the figures in lappet-weaving.
| 1894 T. W. Fox Mechanism of Weaving ix. 250 Elaborate figures are beyond the range of lappets, still there are many small effects that can be economically woven by them. 1924 W. P. Crankshaw Weaving xi. 121 Lappets, Swivels, Smallwares and Warp Piles... Lappet and swivel mechanisms are used to produce effects which resemble those obtained by embroidery. 1927 T. Thornley Cotton Spinning (ed. 4) ix. 311 (heading) The lappets or thread boards and wires. Ibid., During recent years metal thread lappets have become very largely used, being much less likely to warp, become damaged or to lose concentricity with the spindles although the first cost of metal lappets is greater than wood ones. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. in words denoting products of or appliances for
lappet-weaving (see below), as
lappet-cloth,
lappet-frame,
lappet-lay,
lappet-loom,
lappet-muslin,
lappet-needle,
lappet-wheel. Also
lappet-end, the free end of a lappet of lace, etc., often highly ornamented;
† lappet-head, a head-dress provided with lappets (see
lappeted ppl. a.);
lappet-moth, one of several species of bombycid moths;
lappet-weaving, a method of weaving by which figures are produced on the surface of cloth by means of needles placed in a sliding frame.
| 1863 J. Watson Art Weaving 206 The ground of *lappet cloth may be either plain texture or gauze. |
| 1880 Art Jrnl. Jan. 8/2 Designs..for Lace *Lappet Ends. |
| 1878 A. Barlow Weaving xvi. 189 Fig. 193..represents..the *lappet frame with four needles only fitted to a loom. |
| 1759 Goldsm. Mem. Voltaire (Globe) 500/1 He beheld his ugly friend, dressed up in a *lappet-head and petticoat, approach to salute him. 1781 Cowper Truth 139 She sails with lappet-head and mincing airs Duly at chink of bell to morning prayers. |
| 1863 J. Watson Art Weaving 211 The *Lappet Lay for a power-loom is similar in many respects to a common lay. |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1818) II. xxi. 222 One of our largest moths—called by collectors the *Lappet-moth. 1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 62 The Lappet Moth (Gastropacha quercifolia)..may be known by its reddish-brown dentated wings. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade., *Lappet-muslin, a white or coloured, sprigged or striped muslin for dresses, &c. |
| 1863 J. Watson Art Weaving 211 *Lappet needles are made from brass or iron wire. |
| Ibid. 205 So *lappet weaving is just to make representations of different kinds of flowers, birds, and other things, on the surface of woven cloth. |
| Ibid. 218 The *lappet wheel requires to be moved one tooth every second shot. |
Sense 7 in
Dict. becomes 8. Add:
7. Ceramics. A decorative motif,
usu. found as part of a repeating border, and taking various forms, most often that of a stylized petal or of the head of a sceptre. Freq. on Chinese porcelain.
| 1915 R. L. Hobson Chinese Pott. & Porc. II. ix. 130 Formal designs..consisted now of bands of ju-i shaped lappets filled with arabesque foliage, forming an upper and lower border. 1923 ― Wares of Ming Dynasty 32 The subsidiary ornament includes a band of foliate lappets enclosing lotus sprays on the shoulder. 1969 J. Ayers Baur Collection II. A136 Linked lappet panels containing lotus sprays appear above, and lotus-petal panels form a border below. 1972 Trans. Oriental Ceramic Soc. 1969–71 XXXVIII. 99 Round the bottom..a band of petal panels..and round the shoulder large and small lappets alternate, the large ones enclosing flower scrolls and the small ones emblems. 1980 Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 44 Borders of petal lappets around the foot and florettes surrounded by an undulating line of scrolls at the rim. |
▪ II. lappet, v. (
ˈlæpɪt)
[f. prec. n.] trans. To cover with, or as with a lappet.
| 1864 Webster (citing Landor.) Hence in mod. Dicts. |