Lather

//ˈlɑː.ðə// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water. countable, uncountable

    "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed."

  2. 2
    the foam resulting from excessive sweating (as on a horse) wordnet
  3. 3
    Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the froth produced by soaps or detergents wordnet
  5. 5
    A state of agitation. countable
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    a workman who puts up laths wordnet
  2. 7
    agitation resulting from active worry wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To cover with lather. transitive

    "I lathered my body with lavender-scented soap."

  2. 2
    rub soap all over, usually with the purpose of cleaning wordnet
  3. 3
    To beat or whip. transitive
  4. 4
    exude sweat or lather wordnet
  5. 5
    To form lather or froth, as a horse does when profusely sweating. intransitive

    "I woke Corporal Honda to see to the horse. Heavily lathered and breathing hard, it had obviously come a long way at high speed."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    form a lather wordnet
  2. 7
    beat severely with a whip or rod wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
flogfretsoapsudssudsaerateagitation

Example

More examples

"I lather my face before shaving."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English lather, from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of nitre used for soap, soda”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauþr, from Proto-Germanic *lauþrą (“that which is used for washing, soap”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówh₃trom (“that which is used for washing”), from *lewh₃-, *lowh₃- (“to wash, bathe”). Cognate with Swedish lödder (“lather, foam, froth, soap”), Icelandic löður (“foam, froth, a kind of niter used for soap”), Old Irish loathar (“wash-basin”), Ancient Greek λουτρόν (loutrón, “a bath, wash-room”), Latin lavō (“I wash”), Albanian laj (“I wash”), Ancient Greek λούω (loúō). More at lye.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *lethren, from Old English lēþrian, lȳþrian, *līeþrian (“to anoint, smear, lather”), from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of niter used for soap, soda”). See above.

Related phrases

in a latherlather uplather, rinse, repeat

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.