Word.ws English Dictionary

self-lapping

self-lapping adjective: of a valve, especially for brakes, maintaining the force of pressure selected by a control.

Adjective

self-lapping (not comparable)

  1. Of a valve, especially for brakes, maintaining the force of pressure selected by a control.
    • [...] Mr. Grierson remarks that on the L.P.T.B. tube stock in general the electro-pneumatic brake is in use, but that the new 1938 stock is fitted with the self-lapping electro-pneumatic brake, which is under the control of an automatic mercury-operated retardation controller when normal service...1944 May and June, “Notes and News: Bakerloo Tube Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 184
    • Thus, in the newer locomotives for the Great Northern line, the Woodward governors are adapted for air (not solenoid) control and continuous engine speed control through a self-lapping valve replaces the individual-speed steps, allowing operation in multiple with English Electric and Birmingham...1961 February, R. K. Evans, “The role of research on British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 95

Origin of self-lapping

From self- + lapping.

Questions about self-lapping

What does self-lapping mean?
Self-lapping means of a valve, especially for brakes, maintaining the force of pressure selected by a control.
What part of speech is self-lapping?
Self-lapping is an adjective.

Words near self-lapping in the dictionary

  1. self-kills
  2. self-knowing
  3. self-knowledge
  4. self-knowledgeable
  5. self-lacing
  6. self-lapping
  7. self-learning
  8. self-legitimation
  9. self-licensing
  10. self-licking ice cream cone
  11. self-licking ice cream cones

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: self-lapping (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.

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