lath

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See also: láth, laþ, and láð

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /lɑːθ/, /læθ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑːθ
  • Rhymes: -æθ

Noun

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lath (plural laths)

  1. 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.
    Synonym: lath strap
    • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:
      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 […].
    • 1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 21:
      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.
  2. (geology, petrology) Microscopic, needle-like crystals, usually of plagioclase feldspar, in a glassy groundmass[1]
  3. (mining) 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.

Holonyms

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Derived terms

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Terms derived from lath (noun)

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Geological Digressions, "Glossary: Petrography and petrology"

Verb

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lath (third-person singular simple present laths, present participle lathing, simple past and past participle lathed)

  1. to cover or line with laths

Anagrams

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