Lap vs. Leg — What's the Difference?

Covered indirectly by clothing.

Limb extending from the hip to the foot.

Does not move independently.

Symbolizes strength and mobility.

Area between the waist and knees when seated.

Covered by specific garments like pants or stockings.

Used as a surface for holding objects.

Essential for physical activity and sports.

Symbolizes comfort and nurturing.

Involved in walking, running, and standing.

A lap is a surface (usually horizontal) created between the knee and hips of a biped when it is in a seated or lying down position. The lap of a parent or loved one is seen as a physically and psychologically comfortable place for a child to sit.In some countries where Christmas is celebrated, it has been a tradition for children to sit on the lap of a person dressed as Santa Claus to tell Santa what they want for Christmas, and have their picture taken, but this practice has since been questioned in some of these countries, where this sort of contact between children and unfamiliar adults raises concerns.Among adults, a person sitting on the lap of another usually indicates an intimate or romantic relationship between the two; this is a factor in the erotic activity in strip clubs known as a lap dance, where one person straddles the lap of the other and gyrates their lower extremities in a provocative manner.A Lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar played in a sitting position with the instrument placed horizontally across the player's knees.

A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts".

The front area from the waist to the knees of a seated person.

Each of the limbs on which a person or animal walks and stands

The portion of a garment that covers the lap.

Each of the supports of a chair, table, or other structure

A hanging or flaplike part, especially of a garment.

A section or stage of a journey or process

An area of responsibility, interest, or control

A branch of a forked object.

A part that overlaps.

The half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball

The amount by which one part overlaps another.

A deferential gesture made by drawing back one leg and bending it while keeping the front leg straight.

One complete round or circuit, especially of a racetrack.

Travel by foot; walk

One complete length of a straight course, as of a swimming pool.

Propel (a boat) through a tunnel on a canal by pushing with one's legs against the tunnel roof or sides

A segment or stage, as of a trip.

One of the limbs or appendages that an animal uses for locomotion or support.

A length, as of rope, required to make one complete turn around something.

One of the lower or hind limbs in humans and other primates.

The act of lapping or encircling.

The part of the limb between the knee and foot in vertebrates.

A continuous band or layer of cotton, flax, or other fiber.

The back part of the hindquarter of a meat animal.

A wheel, disk, or slab of leather or metal, either stationary or rotating, used for polishing and smoothing.

A supporting part resembling a leg in shape or function.

The act or an instance of lapping.

One of the branches of a forked or jointed object.

The amount taken in by lapping.

The part of a garment, especially of a pair of pants, that covers the leg.

The sound of lapping.

(Mathematics) Either side of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.

A watery food or drink.

(Nautical) The distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack.

To place or lay (something) so as to overlap another

The part of an air route or a flight pattern that is between two successive stops, positions, or changes in direction.

To lie partly over or on

One of several contests that must be successfully completed in order to determine the winner of a competition.

To fold (something) over onto itself

(Sports) One stretch of a relay race.

To wrap or wind around (something); encircle.

Legs The narrow streams of swirled wine or spirits that run slowly down along the inside of a glass, often believed to indicate that the liquid is full-bodied.

To envelop in something; swathe

Legs(Slang) The ability to last or sustain success, especially by appealing to an audience

To join (pieces, as of wood) by means of a scarf or lap joint.

To go on foot; walk or run. Often used with the indefinite it

(Sports) To get ahead of (an opponent) in a race by one or more complete circuits of the course, as in running, or by two or more lengths of a pool in swimming.

A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land.

To convert (cotton or other fibers) into a sheet or layer.

In humans, the lower limb extending from the groin to the ankle.

To polish (a surface) until smooth.

(anatomy) The portion of the lower limb of a human that extends from the knee to the ankle.

To hone (two mating parts) against each other until closely fitted.

A part of garment, such as a pair of trousers/pants, that covers a leg.

To lie partly on or over something; overlap.

A rod-like protrusion from an inanimate object, such as a piece of furniture, supporting it from underneath.

To form a lap or fold.

(figurative) Something that supports.

To wind around or enfold something.

A stage of a journey, race etc.

To take in (a liquid or food) by lifting it with the tongue.

(nautical) A distance that a sailing vessel does without changing the sails from one side to the other.

To wash or slap against with soft liquid sounds

(nautical) One side of a multiple-sided (often triangular) course in a sailing race.

To take in a liquid or food with the tongue.

(sports) A single game or match played in a tournament or other sporting contest.

To wash against something with soft liquid sounds.

(geometry) One of the two sides of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.

The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron.

(geometry) One of the branches of a hyperbola or other curve which extend outward indefinitely.

An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth.

The ability of something to persist or succeed over a long period of time.

The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered.

A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.

(figuratively) a place of rearing and fostering

An extension of a steam boiler downward, in the form of a narrow space between vertical plates, sometimes nearly surrounding the furnace and ash pit, and serving to support the boiler; called also water leg.

The upper legs of a seated person.

In a grain elevator, the case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.

The female pudenda.

Denotes the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman.

(construction) A component that overlaps or covers any portion of itself or of an adjacent component.

(telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.

The act or process of lapping.

(electrical) A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.

That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another.

(finance) An underlying instrument of a derivatives strategy.

The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping.

An army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper.

The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap (see below).

(archaic) A gesture of submission; a bow or curtsey. Chiefly in phrase make a leg.

(sports) One circuit around a race track.

(journalism) A column, as a unit of length of text as laid out.

(swimming) The traversal of one length of the pool, or (less commonly) one length and back again.

To remove the legs from an animal carcass.

In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game;—so called when they are counted in the score of the following game.

To build legs onto a platform or stage for support.

A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine.

To put a series of three or more options strikes into the stock market.

A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, etc. or in polishing cutlery, etc. It is usually in the form of a wheel or disk that revolves on a vertical axis.

To apply force using the leg (as in 'to leg a horse').

The taking of liquid into the mouth with the tongue.

Alternative spelling of leg.

Liquor; alcoholic drink.

A limb or member of an animal used for supporting the body, and in running, climbing, and swimming; esp., that part of the limb between the knee and foot.

(transitive) To enfold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish.

That which resembles a leg in form or use; especially, any long and slender support on which any object rests; as, the leg of a table; the leg of a pair of compasses or dividers.

(transitive) To rest or recline in a lap, or as in a lap.

The part of any article of clothing which covers the leg; as, the leg of a stocking or of a pair of trousers.

(transitive) To fold; to bend and lay over or on something.

A bow, esp. in the phrase to make a leg; probably from drawing the leg backward in bowing.

(transitive) to wrap around, enwrap, wrap up

A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.

(transitive) to envelop, enfold

The course and distance made by a vessel on one tack or between tacks.

(intransitive) to wind around

An extension of the boiler downward, in the form of a narrow space between vertical plates, sometimes nearly surrounding the furnace and ash pit, and serving to support the boiler; - called also water leg.

(transitive) To place or lay (one thing) so as to overlap another.

The case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.

(transitive) To polish, e.g., a surface, until smooth.

A fielder whose position is on the outside, a little in rear of the batter.

(intransitive) To be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap.

Either side of a triangle distinguished from the base or, in a right triangle, from the hypotenuse; also, an indefinitely extending branch of a curve, as of a hyperbola.

To overtake a straggler in a race by completing one more whole lap than the straggler.

A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.

To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, etc.

A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.

(ambitransitive) To take (liquid) into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue.

To use as a leg, with it as object

To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash.

A human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part between the knee and ankle

Clipping of laparoscopic

A structure in animals that is similar to a human leg and used for locomotion

The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron.

One of the supports for a piece of furniture

An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth.

A part of a forked or branching shape;

The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered; figuratively, a place of rearing and fostering; as, to be reared in the lap of luxury.

The limb of an animal used for food

That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another; as, the lap of a board; also, the measure of such extension over or upon another thing.

A prosthesis that replaces a missing leg

The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap. See Outside lap (below).

Cloth covering consisting of the part of a garment that covers the leg

The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping; as, the second boat got a lap of half its length on the leader.

(nautical) the distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack

One circuit around a race track, esp. when the distance is a small fraction of a mile; as, to run twenty laps; to win by three laps. See Lap, to fold, 2.

A section or portion of a journey or course;

In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game; - so called when they are counted in the score of the following game.

A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine.

A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, and the like, or in polishing cutlery, etc. It is usually in the form of wheel or disk, which revolves on a vertical axis.

The act of lapping with, or as with, the tongue; as, to take anything into the mouth with a lap.

The sound of lapping.

To rest or recline in a lap, or as in a lap.

To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, etc. See 1st Lap, 10.

To fold; to bend and lay over or on something; as, to lap a piece of cloth.

To wrap or wind around something.

To infold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish.

To lay or place over anything so as to partly or wholly cover it; as, to lap one shingle over another; to lay together one partly over another; as, to lap weather-boards; also, to be partly over, or by the side of (something); as, the hinder boat lapped the foremost one.

To lay together one over another, as fleeces or slivers for further working.

To be turned or folded; to lie partly upon or by the side of something, or of one another; as, the cloth laps back; the boats lap; the edges lap.

To take up drink or food with the tongue; to drink or feed by licking up something.

To make a sound like that produced by taking up drink with the tongue.

To take into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue.

The upper side of the thighs of a seated person;

An area of control or responsibility;

The part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs;

A flap that lies over another part;

Movement once around a course;

Touching with the tongue;

Lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another

Pass the tongue over;

Move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound;

Take up with the tongue;

Wash or flow against;

Legs are crucial for movement, balance, and providing the power needed for activities like walking, running, and jumping.

No, a lap is specifically the area that forms when one is seated and disappears when standing.

Yes, "lap" can also refer to completing a circuit in racing, but this meaning is contextually different from its comparison with legs.

Culturally, laps are seen as spaces of comfort and nurturing, while legs are often viewed as symbols of strength, independence, and attractiveness.

Clothing primarily affects legs by providing protection and support, whereas it doesn't directly impact the lap's function as a holding space.

Exercises are designed for legs to improve strength, flexibility, and endurance, but there are no exercises for the lap, given its nature as a passive space.

Healthcare and medicine focus on legs for mobility, strength, and rehabilitation, while the lap is rarely a focus unless considering aspects like lap surgeries or procedures.

Only humans have laps in the sense of a flat space formed when seated. Animals do not have an equivalent structure, though pets may sit on human laps.

Specialized equipment exists for legs, such as braces or prosthetics to aid in mobility, whereas lap-related equipment might include cushions or lap desks for comfort and utility.

During seated activities, legs support the body's position, while the lap becomes a functional space for holding objects or resting arms.