lapful

[ lap-fool ]

noun

, plural lap·fuls.

1. as much as the lap can hold.

Spelling Note

See -ful.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lapful¹

First recorded in 1605–15; lap ¹ + -ful

Example Sentences

Thus Nowell-Wilson cradles a lapful of eggs in one of her drawings, whose poses are modeled on classical canvases.

From Washington Post

The commander grabbed his kayak, paddled into the cold waves and retrieved a lapful of cold-shocked turtles.

From Washington Post

Then I’d think about Aunt Loma with that lapful of rat or my mother jumping up on the seat, and it was like I was a gun fired off.

From Literature

When life gives these kids a lapful of more and less inexplicable lemons, Alix and Mason move in together.

From New York Times

Then she saw the woman’s lapful of food and reached out hungrily.

From The New Yorker