Word.ws English Dictionary

belap

Syllables: be·lap/bɪˈlæp/US/bəˈlæp/

belap verb: to lap or wrap around (someone or something); to envelop, to surround.

Verb

belap (third-person singular simple present belaps, present participle belapping, simple past and past participle belapped)

  1. (obsolete, transitive, chiefly passive voice) To lap or wrap around (someone or something); to envelop, to surround.
    • There was redy in a wode / Two hundurde knyghtys, þat were gode. / Owte of the wode þey came anon / And belapped vs euerychon.[15th century, Julius Zupitza, editor, The Romance of Guy of Warwick. The Second or 15th-century Version. […] (Extra Series; XXV–XXVI) (in Middle English), London: […] [F]or the Early English Text...
    • For the lytell vertue & strength of that nature the which remayneth / there is as who sayth a lytell sparke of fyre wrapped and hyd in asshes / This is the naturall reason of man belapped with great darkenes / yet hauing dyscrecion of good & yll / of truthe & falsenesse, though it be vnable to...1504, Thomas à Kempis, “Of the Corrupcyon of Nature and the Workynge of Grace”, in William Atkynson [i.e., William Atkinson], transl., edited by John K[ells] Ingram, The Earliest English Translation...
    Synonyms:
    enfold, environ, lap, umbelap

Synonyms of belap

Forms of belap

third-person singular presentbelaps
present participlebelapping
past participlebelapped
pastbelapped

Origin of belap

PIE word *h₁epi From Middle English bilappen (“to envelop; to clothe; to surround; to blend, mix”), from bi- (completive, intensifying, or figurative prefix) + lappen (“to wrap; to place so as to enclose or enfold; to encase; to envelop; to clothe; to put on armour; to ensnare, snare”). Lappen is derived from lap, lappe (“loose part of a garment; folded or extended skirt, or loose sleeve, used to hold things; small piece of cloth or mail detached from a garment or coat of mail; a part, portion, share; a person’s lap; (also figuratively) a person’s bosom or breast; (anatomy) a loose part of the body (such as an earlobe or a lobe of the liver); female genitalia; cavity or sinus in the body; (in place names) piece of land at the edge of an estate or parish”) (from Old English læppa (“skirt; (anatomy) lobe”), from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang down loosely (?)”)) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). The English word is analysable as be- (prefix meaning ‘about; around’ or ‘completely, utterly’) + lap (“to lap or wrap around, envelop, surround”).

Words that rhyme with belap

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about belap

What does belap mean?
Belap means to lap or wrap around (someone or something); to envelop, to surround.
What part of speech is belap?
Belap is a verb.
How do you pronounce belap?
Belap is pronounced /bɪˈlæp/ (UK).
What is the past tense of belap?
The past tense of belap is belapped.

Words near belap in the dictionary

  1. Belangers
  2. Belanglo
  3. belanja
  4. Belansky
  5. belantamab mafodotin
  6. belap
  7. belaperidone
  8. belapped
  9. belapping
  10. belaps
  11. belar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: belap (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-belap.wav.

Cite this entry: “belap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/belap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.