sb. and a. [f. LAP sb.1 + -FUL.]
A. sb. So much as will fill a person’s lap.
[1611. Bible, 2 Kings iv. 39. One … found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wilde gourds his lap full.]
1611. Cotgr., Gironnée, a lapfull, or bosomefull of.
1648. Ward (title), The Simple Cobbler’s Boy, with a Lapful of Caveats.
1710. Swift, Tatler, No. 230, ¶ 2. They are handed about from Lap-fulls in every Coffee-house to Persons of Quality.
1850. Mrs. Jameson, Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863), 313. Her proper attribute is the lapful of roses.
1887. Baring-Gould, Gaverocks, xiii. I have got a lap-full of chestnuts.
B. adj. Having the lap full. rare.
1884. Symonds, Shaks. Predecessors, vii. § 3. 264. Lap-full of flowers … the country lass of English art returns from those excursions.
