Forms: 4 lacye, 5 lacyn, (lyce), 5–6 lase, 6 Sc. laise, 7 ? leese (sense 2 d), 4– lace. Pa. pple. 3 i-laced. [ad. OF. lacier (F. lacer):—popular L. *laciāre to ensnare, f. *lacium: see LACE sb. Cf. Pr. lassar, Sp. lazar, Pg. laçar, It. lacciare.]
† 1. trans. To catch in, or as in, a noose or snare; to entangle, ensnare. Obs.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 3178. I trowe never man wiste of peyne, But he were laced in Loves cheyne.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr. (E.E.T.S.), 13076. Folkys vnder my demeyne, Swych as be lacyd in my cheyne.
c. 1485. Digby Myst., V. 580. Fortune in worldes worshepe me doth lace.
2. To fasten or tighten with, or as with, a lace or string; to tie on; to fasten the lace of. In mod. use spec. to fasten or tighten (boots, stays, etc.) with a lace or laces passed alternately through two rows of eyelets. Also with down, on, together.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 420. Sum wummon … wereð … þe strapeles adun to hire uet i-laced ful ueste.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 870. Horn his brunie gan on caste, And laced hit wel faste.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Miller’s T., 81. Hir shoes were laced on hir legges hye.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxvi. 121. Þai er … laced togyder with lacez of silke.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 3933. He kist þe clathes as þai hade bene lasyd And on the saint body brasyd.
1530. Palsgr., 600/2. I wyll lace my doublet first for takyng of colde.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., III. ii. 46. A paire of bootes that haue been candle-cases, one buckled, another lac’d.
1672. Wiseman, Treat. Wounds, I. iv. 43. I caused a straight stocking to be laced on both legs.
1709. Steele & Addison, Tatler, No. 75, ¶ 8. To see me often with my Spectacles on lacing her Stays.
1711. W. Sutherland, Shipbuilder’s Assist., 129. Lacing the Mizon.
1748. Anson’s Voy., III. viii. 380. The galeon was … provided against boarding … by a strong net-work … which was laced over her waist.
1763. Brit. Mag., IV. 286. I lace and unlace ladies stays of the first fashion, every day of my life.
1789–96. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 35. They fix the rein-deer to a kind of sledge … in which the traveller, well secured from cold, is laced down.
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), III. xiii. 259. Ofttimes he laced and ofttimes he unlaced his mantle.
1885. Law Rep., Q. B. D., XV. 360. The two ends were … laced together with … leathern laces.
b. transf. and fig.
13[?]. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., xxiii. 466. Heil beo whom þe godhed In vr flesch was laced.
a. 1550. Christis Kirke Gr., xviii. Hir glitterand hair that wes full gowdin, Sa hard in lufe him laist.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 35. When he sawe the perill of us all, lincked and laced to the daunger of hym selfe.
1578. N. Baxter, trans. Calvin on Jonah, 64. Jonas … stood harde lased [L. quasi constrictus], because [etc.].
1860. Darwin, in Life & Lett. (1887), II. 298. Each series of facts is laced together by a series of assumptions.
c. intr. (quasi-pass.) To admit of being fastened or tightened with laces.
1792. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Wks., III. 37. She wailing, in most piteous case, Of stubborn stays—that would not lace.
1888. P. Furnivall, Phys. Training, 6. Shoes … should … lace from the toe, as high up the foot as is possible.
d. Naut. ‘To apply (a bonnet) by lacing it to a sail’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 1867). Also with on. (Cf. F. lacer.)
1635. Brereton, Trav. (Chetham Soc.), 169. You may take off the main bonnet and top bonnet,… and in a short time you may lace them on again.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 16. Leese in [ed. 1684 Lace on] your Boonets.
3. To compress the waist of (a person) by drawing the laces tight. With qualifying adv. (straitly, tight, etc.). Also fig. To lace in: to compress the waist of (a person) by lacing. Similarly, to lace down.
a. 1566. R. Edwards, Damon & Pithias (1571), B iv. Whiche bothe are in vertue so narrowly laced, That [etc.].
1599. Porter, Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.), 107. I do not love to bee last in, when I goe to lase a rascall.
1668. R. Steele, Husbandm. Call., x. (1672), 262. They grow crooked by being lac’d too strait.
1700. Congreve, Way of World, III. x. Like Mrs. Primly’s great Belly; she may lace it down before, but it burnishes on her Hips.
1825. Scott, Fam. Lett., 23 Jan. (1894), II. 230. Rather straitly laced in her Presbyterian stays.
1882. World, 21 June, 18/1. The bodice … laced in a waist of twenty inches.
b. refl., and intr. for refl.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 195. Better advised are the Venetian Dames, who never Lace themselves.
1871. Figure Training, 9. To lace or not to lace. Ibid., 99. I can, if disposed, lace in to sixteen inches.
4. trans. To thread or interlace (a fabric of any kind) with a lace, string, or the like; to embroider. Chiefly in pa. pple.
1483. Wardr. Acc., in Antiq. Repert. (1807), I. 30. The foresaide canapies sowed with oon unce of silk, and lyced with 1 lb. xj unces of grene threde.
1576. Turberv., Venerie, 21. You shall haue a net made of strong thread laced with a thong.
1630. R. N., Camden’s Eliz., II. 68. Silkes, glittering with gold and siluer, eyther imbroydered or laced.
1774. West, Antiq. Furness, p. xxii. Marle and soil, laced with fibres of vegetables.
1879. H. George, Progr. & Pov., VII. v. (1881), 253. We … lace the air with telegraph wires.
1880. Paper & Print. Trades Jrnl., No. 32. 38. Oblong vellum binding laced with cat-gut.
b. To pass (a cord, etc.) in and out through a fabric by way of ornament, through holes, etc. † Also with in. Also fig.
1638. Sanderson, Serm. (1681), II. 108. To lace in a prayer, a blessing, a thanksgiving.
1880. Zaehnsdorf, Art Book-binding (1890), xiv. 57. The boards having been squared, they are to be attached to the book by lacing the ends of the cord through holes made in the board.
c. To intertwine, to place together as if interwoven.
1883. Hall Caine, Cobwebs of Crit., vi. 176. The poet … lacing and interlacing his combinations of thought and measure.
1889. F. M. Peard, Paul’s Sister, I. viii. 218. Lucy … laced her white fingers across her forehead.
† d. ? nonce-use. To pierce repeatedly with shots.
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea, x. 21. Wherevpon the Gunner at the next shott, lact the Admirall through and through.
5. To ornament or trim with lace.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, III. iv. 20. Cloth a gold, and cuts, and lac’d with siluer.
1670. Lady M. Bertie, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 21. The under pettycoatt very richly laced with two or three sorts of lace.
1727. Swift, Further Acc. E. Curll, Wks. 1755, III. I. 161. Have not I clothed you in double royal,… laced your backs with gold.
1760. trans. Keysler’s Trav., II. 354. A chair covered with velvet, and laced with gold.
1841. G. P. R. James, Brigand, xxvi. The king was habited … in black velvet richly embroidered and laced with gold.
6. To mark as with (gold or silver) lace or embroidery; to diversify with streaks of color.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., III. v. 8. Looke Loue what enuious streakes Do lace the seuering Cloudes in yonder East. Ibid. (c. 1600), Sonn., lxvii. That sinne by him aduantage should atchiue, And lace it selfe with his societie. Ibid. (1605), Macb., II. iii. 118. Here lay Duncan, His Siluer skinne, lac’d with his Golden Blood.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., I. iii. Wks. 1856, I. 81. The verge of heaven Was ringd with flames, and all the upper vault Thick lac’t with flakes of fire.
1648. Gage, West Ind., xvii. (1655), 113. A pleasant and goodly valley, laced with a River.
1850. Whipple, Ess. & Rev. (ed. 3), I. 280. The gloom of his meditations is laced with light in all directions.
1850. Beck’s Florist, 200. Very smooth, stout petal laced with rosy purple.
1860. Kingsley, Misc., II. 259. A Waterfall of foam, lacing the black rocks with a thousand snowy streams.
1861. L. L. Noble, After Icebergs, 67. Boats … freighted with the browner cod, laced occasionally with a salmon. Ibid., 139. The ocean with its waves of Tyrian dye laced with silver.
† b. Painting. absol. To insert streaks of any color, e.g., white. Obs.
1634. Peacham, Gentl. Exerc., 74. It is the best white of all others to lace or garnish, being ground with a weak gumme water.
c. intr. Of a flower: To acquire the streaks of color prized by fanciers. (Cf. LACED ppl. a. 4.)
1852. Beck’s Florist, 210. The varieties [of pinks] generally laced very well.
7. To lash, beat, thrash.
1599. [see 3].
1615. Band, Ruffe & Cuffe (Halliw.), 10. If I meet thee, I will lace thee roundly.
1618. Fletcher, Loyal Subj., V. iv. He was whipt like a top; I never saw a whore so lac’d.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, Life of Æsop, 11. Go your ways … or I’ll lace your coat for you.
1783. Ainsworth, Lat. Dict. (Morell), I. To lace,… cædo, verbero.
1847. C. Brontë, Jane Eyre, xxi. (1857), 234. A … switch … waiting to leap out imp-like and lace my quivering palm.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Lace, to beat or punish with a rattan or rope’s end.
† 8. Cookery. To make a number of incisions in (the breast of a bird). Obs.
1658. Sir T. Mayerne, Archimag. Anglo-Gall., No. 36. 33. Take a Wigeon … or Mallard … and with your knife lace them down the brest.
a. 1704. Compleat Servant-Maid (ed. 7), 33. Lace down the Breast on both sides.
1796. Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, xxvi. 382. Cut off the legs, lace the breast down each side.
9. To put a ‘lace’ of spirits (or † of sugar) into (a beverage); to mingle or ‘dash’ (with spirits).
[1677: see LACED ppl. a.1 6.]
1687. Miége, Gt. Fr. Dict., II. s.v., To lace Coffee, mettre un peu de Sucre dans une tasse de Caphé.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xi. He had his pipe and his tea-cup, the latter being laced with a little spirits.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, I. ix. (1878), 84. Polly loves a mug of ale, too, and laced with brandy.
1881. Blackw. Mag., CXXIX. 195. Abraham began by lacing his cups for him.
1898. Stevenson, St. Ives, 53. A jug of milk, which she had handsomely laced with whiskey after the Scottish manner.
10. Comb., as lace-boots; also lace-up adj. and sb.
1827. Sporting Mag., XX. 272. Strong lace-boots coming just over the ancle.
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz (1850), 45/2. To fit a pair of lace-up half-boots on an ideal personage.
1841. J. T. Hewlett, Parish Clerk, I. 22. A stout pair of lace-ups.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, III. 410. He wore the heavy high lace-up boots, so characteristic of the tribe.
Hence Lacing ppl. a. nonce-use = INTERLACING. Also Lacer, one who laces, in comb. tight-lacer.
1871. Figure Training, 48. So far as I have observed, tight-lacers are, as a rule, active, brisk, healthy young people.
1873. G. C. Davies, Mount. & Mere, xiii. 99. We catch glimpses of it sometimes through the lacing branches.
