lath

CEFRC2

/lɑːθ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A thin strip of wood used to support plaster or tiles.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Microscopic, needle-like crystals, usually of plagioclase feldspar, in a glassy groundmass

Examples

  • You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut.

  • The rubble waits him, sloping up to broken rear walls in a clogging, an openwork of laths pointlessly chevroning-flooring, furniture, glass, chunks of plaster, long tatters of wallpaper, split and shattered joists […].

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. One of the sharp-edged, thick planks driven forward to hold back loose earth or mud when digging the way through for tunnelling or spiling. Also called a spill.

  2. A thin, narrow strip, fastened to the rafters, studs, or floor beams of a building, for the purpose of supporting a covering of tiles, plastering, etc.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To cover or line with laths.

More examples

In context

  • Lanna says about wishing she was bigger in the chest and I goes that I had nothing to beat there and I was thin as a lat.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The carpenter nailed a wooden blank to the wall before applying plaster.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English laththe, laþþe, earlier lathe, laþe, altered from Old English lætt (“lath”), from Proto-West Germanic *lattu, from Proto-Germanic *laþô (compare Dutch lat, German Latte) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lat- (compare Welsh llath (“rod, wand, yard”)).