laving

Verb

lave (third-person singular simple present laves, present participle laving, simple past and past participle laved)

1. (transitive) To bathe or wash (someone or something).
   • [M]y houſe vvithin the City / Is richly furniſhed vvith plate and gold, / Baſons and evvers to laue her dainty hands: […]c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
2. (transitive) Of a river or other water body: to flow along or past (a place or thing); to wash.
   • VVith roomy decks, her Guns of mighty ſtrength, / (VVhoſe lovv-laid mouthes each mounting billovv laves:) / Deep in her draught, and vvarlike in her length, / She ſeems a Sea-vvaſp flying on the vvaves.1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, stanza 153, page 39
3. (transitive) Followed by into, on, or upon: to pour (water or some other liquid) with or as if with a ladle into or on someone or something; to lade, to ladle.
   • Then the Lead being melted, […] it is laved into the Pan, […]1703, Richard Neve, “Lead”, in The City and Country Purchaser, and Builder’s Dictionary: Or, The Compleat Builders Guide. […], 2nd edition, London: […] D. Browne, […]; J. and B. Sprint […], G....
4. (figuratively, transitive) To remove (something), as if by washing away with water.
   • And now, she sat down under the leafless tree, to weep; and in those bitter tears, childhood itself was laved from her soul for ever.1843, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Broken Gittern”, in The Last of the Barons, volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Adventures of Master Marmaduke Nevile), page 36
5. (figuratively, transitive) To surround or gently touch (someone or something), as if with water.
   • [W]hen the midnight moon did lave / Her forehead in the silver wave, / How solemn on the ear would come / The holy mattin's distant hum, […]1810, Walter Scott, “Canto I. The Chase.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William...
6. (figuratively, transitive) Chiefly in sexual contexts: to lick (someone or something).
   • "Who could resist such a temptation?" he drawled, and bent to lave each nipple with his tongue till the satin was wet and clinging.1998, Miranda Lee, The Boss’s Baby, Richmond, Surrey: Harlequin Mills & Boon, →ISBN, page 102

See all 16 meanings of lave