Lap vs. Overlap — What's the Difference?

The flat area between the waist and knees of a seated person.

The amount or portion that overlaps.

The part of a garment that covers the knees when sitting.

To have something in common with another.

A complete trip around a track in racing.

To extend over and cover a part of.

To take in liquid by licking.

The act of placing something over another.

The act of overtaking a competitor in racing.

The shared area or period between two things.

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

Extend over so as to cover partly

The portion of a garment that covers the lap.

A part or amount which overlaps

A hanging or flaplike part, especially of a garment.

To lie or extend over and cover part of.

An area of responsibility, interest, or control

To have an area or range in common with.

A part that overlaps.

To lie over and partly cover something.

The amount by which one part overlaps another.

To correspond in character or function

One complete round or circuit, especially of a racetrack.

(Mathematics) To have one or more elements in common. Used of sets.

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

A part or portion that overlaps or is overlapped.

A segment or stage, as of a trip.

An instance of overlapping.

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

To extend over and partly cover something.

The act of lapping or encircling.

To have an area, range, character or function in common.

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

(mathematics) Of sets: to have some elements in common.

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

(genetics) To have some similar nucleotide sequences.

The act or an instance of lapping.

Something that overlaps or is overlapped

The amount taken in by lapping.

(rugby) a situation in the game where an attacking line has more players in it than the defensive line coming to meet it. The attacking side may exploit the overlap by using their superior numbers to break the opposition's defensive line. If attackers outnumber defenders by more than one player this is often termed a two man overlap or three man overlap, etc. If the attacking side fails to break through usually due to poor execution, they are said to waste an overlap.

The sound of lapping.

To lay (one thing) over another; to lap.

A watery food or drink.

To cover part of.

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

To be arranged so that a part of one object laying over part of another; as, the boards overlapped at their ends.

To lie partly over or on

To have the ending time of one period or process extend beyond the beginning time of another period or process; as, the lives of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt overlapped by several decades.

To fold (something) over onto itself

The lapping of one thing over another; as, an overlap of six inches; an overlap of a slate on a roof.

To wrap or wind around (something); encircle.

An extension of geological beds above and beyond others, as in a conformable series of beds, when the upper beds extend over a wider space than the lower, either in one or in all directions.

To envelop in something; swathe

A representation of common ground between theories or phenomena;

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

The property of partial coincidence in time

(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 flap that lies over another part;

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

Coincide partially or wholly;

To polish (a surface) until smooth.

Extend over and cover a part of;

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

To lie partly on or over something; overlap.

To form a lap or fold.

To wind around or enfold something.

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

To wash or slap against with soft liquid sounds

To take in a liquid or food with the tongue.

To wash against something with soft liquid sounds.

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

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

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

The upper legs of a seated person.

The female pudenda.

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

The act or process of lapping.

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

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

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).

(sports) One circuit around a race track.

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

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, etc. or in polishing cutlery, etc. It is usually in the form of a wheel or disk that revolves on a vertical axis.

The taking of liquid into the mouth with the tongue.

Liquor; alcoholic drink.

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

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

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

(transitive) to wrap around, enwrap, wrap up

(transitive) to envelop, enfold

(intransitive) to wind around

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Clipping of laparoscopic

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

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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;

Yes, for example, "The two projects overlap in their final stages."

A lap is the area formed by the upper thighs when sitting or a complete circuit in a race.

Overlap refers to the extension of one thing over another, creating a partial covering or a shared area.

It depends; overlap can enhance collaboration but also require careful coordination to avoid confusion.

Clothes may have parts that lap over, like the front flaps of a coat.

In sports, a lap can refer to a complete circuit or distance covered in a race.

No, overlap can also refer to abstract concepts like time, responsibilities, or ideas.

Lap is less common, but overlap is crucial in digital design and user experience.

Yes, sitting in another's lap is a common form of closeness and comfort.

In design, overlapping elements might be used to create depth or focus.

Overlap is measured by the extent to which one object covers another.

Overlap in learning can indicate areas of commonality that enhance understanding.

Yes, in the context of water, "to lap" means to make a gentle splashing sound.

In racing, lap is used to denote completing a circuit or overtaking another competitor.

Yes, overlapping music can create a blend or harmony between different pieces.