▪ I. lasso, n.
(ləˈsuː, ˈlæsəʊ)
Also 9 laso, lazie, lazo.
[Sp. lazo (in America pronounced ˈlaso) = OF. laz: see lace n.
Fowler remarked (Mod. Eng. Usage, 1926, p. 315) ‘lasso is pronounced lasoo{nfacu} by those who use it; but the English pronunciation is lă{nfacu}sō.’ In ed. 2 (1965) Sir E. Gowers changed this to ‘lasso is pronounced lăsoo{nfacu} by those who use it, and by most English people too’.]
1. A long rope of untanned hide, from 10 to 30 yards in length, having at the end a noose to catch cattle and wild horses; used chiefly in Spanish America.
| [1768 J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 221 The la{cced}o is a long thong of leather, at the end of which they made a sliding noose.] 1808 Narr. Exped. Gen. Craufurd ii. viii. 189 Numbers of these fellows, with the lazie, hovered about us. 1824 W. Bullock Six Months' Residence Mexico 179 It requires the use of a lasso to catch them. This is thrown with great dexterity by every hostler or servant. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies xix, The coil of cordage..is called a lariat, and answers to the laso of South America. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. vi. 86 The California horsemen seldom ride out without the laso; that is to say, a long coil of cord, with a slip noose, with which they are expert, amost to a miracle. 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. xxv. (1891) 356 Measuring his distance..as nicely as if he were throwing his lasso. 1879 Beerbohm Patagonia v. 66 Before it could recover Garcia's lasso whizzed through the air and lighted on its neck. 1940 H. L. Mencken Happy Days 284 They lay in wait in dark Greene street with their..lassos, and knives. 1966 H. Marriott Cariboo Cowboy v. 53 Al was sure a good man with a lasso rope. |
| fig. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 50 In long lassoes..the water flowed full. 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin i. 15 He..hurled Lassoes of dismal smoke around the world. |
2. Mil. = lasso-harness.
| 1847 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (ed. 4) 167 The first time they were required to draw by means of the Lasso. 1868 Regul. & Ord. Army §614 Ten men per Troop..are to be equipped with the tackle of the Lasso. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
lasso-man,
lasso-throw;
lasso-like,
lasso-throwing adjs.;
lasso-cell, one of the urticating cells of the
Cœlenterata, which eject the contained thread in the manner of a lasso;
lasso-harness, a kind of girth placed round a cavalry horse, with a lasso or long rope attached, for use in drawing guns, etc., as an assistance to the draught-horses.
| 1865 Agassiz Seaside Stud. Nat. Hist. 18 The *lasso-cells are very formidable weapons. 1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 25 The beautiful sea-anemone..covered in many parts by lasso-cells that hurl out sharp, poisonous darts. |
| 1847 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (ed. 4) 166 *Lasso Harness consists of a brown leather circingle, and one trace. |
| 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 58 The inner wall [of the thread-cell] is much stronger, having one extremity open and prolonged into a stout rather fusiform sheath which terminates in a long *lasso-like filament. |
| 1808 Brig.-Gen. Craufurd in Trial of Lieut.-Gen. J. Whitelocke I. 196 *Lasso men employed in killing cattle for the troops. |
| 1841 G. Catlin Lett. on N. Amer. Indians II. 152 A line, with a sort of ‘*laso throw’, came from an awkward hand on the deck. a 1861 T. Winthrop John Brent (1883) ii. 11 Man to them was power, and nothing else,—a lasso-throwing machine. |
▪ II. lasso, v. (
ləˈsuː,
ˈlæsəʊ)
Also
lazo.
[f. lasso n.] 1. trans. To catch with a lasso. Also
fig.| 1807 Exped. to Buenos Ayres 6 Here and there they ‘lassoed’ the stragglers. 1831 E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son xxv. (1890) 116 Like the wild horse..lazoed by the South American Gauchoes. 1881 P. B. Du Chaillu Land Midn. Sun II. 80 A man went into the wood and returned with a deer he had lassoed. 1891 Smiles J. Murray II. xxviii. 252 He..crossed the Pampas, catching and lassoing wild horses. 1965 V. Bonham Carter Winston Churchill xviii. 253 Fisher happened to be at Naples and it seemed a heaven-sent opportunity for lassoing him there and roping him in again. |
2. Mil. To draw (guns, etc.) with lasso-harness.
| 1864 Daily Tel. 14 Mar., The mode of lassoing guns, as practised by the mounted troop of the Royal Engineers. |
Hence
laˈssoed ppl. a.,
laˈssoing vbl. n. Also
laˈssoer,
laˈssoist, one who lassoes.
| 1838 ‘Texian’ Mexico v. Texas 48 The men were collecting the mules, and when these were driven together, the lassoing began. 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 5 May, Called in to treat cases of private shooting, stabbing, and lassoing. 1881 Darwin in Life & Lett. III. 245 A struggling and lassoed cow. 1882 Sala Amer. Revis. (1885) 413 The..neighing of our lassoed horses. 1883 Sweet & Knox On Mexican Mustang through Texas xli. 584 Juan Gonzales..is said to be the champion lassoer in the world. 1884 W. Shepherd Prairie Experiences 40 The lassoer picks out the unbranded calves, and drags them off to the fire. 1896 Chamb. Jrnl. XIII. 16/2 The lassoers often manage to take two or three [horses] per man. 1906 Daily Chron. 16 May 5/7 There have been lassoists before, but never, perhaps, such a master of the art as Will Rogers. |