Also 7–8 lappit. [f. LAP sb.1 + -ET.]
1. A loose or overlapping part of a garment, forming a flap or fold.
1573. Twyne, Æneid., XI. Kk j b, The yelowish silken weed,… Whose lappets ratling large in knot of costly gold were tyde.
1676. Grew, Anat. Flowers, i. § 3 (1682), 164. Or as Taylors use to split their Stomachers into several Lappets, to spread.
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), II. II. 85. He threw out of the lappet of his robe, in the midst of the senate, some African figs.
1856. J. G. Murphy, Comm. Ex. xxviii. 8. It was a shoulder-piece … or single lappet covering the back and reaching under the arm.
b. gen. A part of anything that hangs loose; a flap; a key-hole guard.
1677. Lond. Gaz., No. 1215/4. Lost in Easter Term 1676, an Almanack bound with red Leather with a Lappet tyed over with a red Ribon.
1780. Phil. Trans., LXX. App. 32. I … covered everything well with the lappets of the rag.
1867. J. Hogg, Microsc., I. iii. 174. The little lappet of tin-foil can be so doubled as to shorten the aperture.
1885. C. Gibbon, Hard Knot, I. xv. 212. He closed the door,… bolted it, and drew the porcelain ‘lappet’ over the key-hole.
2. a. A fold or pendent piece of flesh, skin, membrane, etc. (cf. LAP sb.1 2).
1605. Timme, Quersit., I. xiii. 66. The salts of mynt and worme-wood are good to purge the lappets and tunicles of the stomach.
1705. Petiver, in Phil. Trans., XXV. 1955. A thin furrowed lappet exerts itself near 1/4 of an inch from the side of the Shell.
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., III. 446. Slender laciniæ or lappets fringed with hair.
1861. J. R. Greene, Man. Anim. Kingd., Cœlent., 218. The apical appendages, or lappets, of some Beroidæ.
1865. Jeffreys, Brit. Conchol., III. 320. Mantle thin and semitransparent,… lappets large in proportion, forming two saucer-shaped lobes, one on each side of the tentacles.
1871. Darwin, Desc. Man, II. viii. 72. The fleshy appendages about the head of the male Tragopan pheasant swell into a large lappet on the throat.
b. A lobe of the ear, liver, lungs, etc.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., XXV. iii. 264. An horsemans jauelin … stucke fast in the neather lappet or fillet of his liuer.
1628. Le Grys, trans. Barclay’s Argenis, 91. The naturall order being broken the lappets of it [the liuer] did appeare out of their owne place.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 95. The Malabars both men and women, the lappets of their Eares are open.
a. 1693. Urquhart’s Rabelais, III. iv. 49. The Lights never cease with its Lappets and Bellows to cool and refresh it [the Blood].
1727. A. Hamilton, New Acc. E. Ind., II. xxxvii. 56. Their Ears large, and the Lappets very thick.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, 52. A triangular lappet, the so-called ‘columellar lobule.’
3. The flap or skirt (of a coat). Also, the lapel.
1726. Swift, Gulliver, II. i. 100. Lifting up the lappet of his coat.
1812. J. Henry, Camp. agst. Quebec, 142. He had no pockets to this coat, unless you may call the flannel such which interiorly lined the lappets.
1843. Borrow, Bible in Spain, 324. A grey kerseymere coat with short lappets.
1883. D. C. Murray, Hearts, I. 3. Laying hold of him by the lappet of the coat.
4. An appendage or pendant to head-gear of any kind; esp. one of the streamers attached to a lady’s head-dress. Also, in clerical attire, = BAND sb.3 4 b.
c. 1720. Duke of Montagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 367. Four pinners with … eight lappets hanging down behind.
1781. Gibbon, Decl. & F., III. liii. 297. Two strings or lappets of pearl depended on either cheek.
1787. J. King, Bath Rules, in Guide Water. Places (1806), 30. 3dly, That ladies who intend dancing minuets do wear lappets.
1851. Layard, Pop. Acc. Discov. Nineveh, xiii. 324. With the addition of lappets falling over the ears.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, x. The black cloth berretta, or simple cap with upturned lappet.
1869. E. A. Parkes, Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3), 401. A sealskin cap with ear lappets.
1869. Daily News, 30 Jan., 5/6. He wore the black gown and white lappets of the church of England.
1876. Humphreys, Coin Coll. Man., xii. 147. A kind of tiara, with a singular striped or plaited lappet falling down at the back.
1879. ‘Hesba Stretton,’ Through a Needle’s Eye, I. 151. Mrs. H. … tossed the long lappets of her lace cap behind her shoulders.
transf. 1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 229. They [goats] have two lappets, locks or plaits as it were of haire, hanging downe along their bodie on either side from their neck.
5. Short for lappet-moth.
1857. Stainton, Brit. Butterflies & Moths, I. 157. Gastropacha quercifolia (Lappet).
1862. E. Newman, Brit. Moths (1869), 45. The Lappet (Lasiocampa quercifolia). Ibid., 46. The Small Lappet (Lasiocampa ilicifolia).
6. attrib. and Comb. in words denoting products of or appliances for lappet-weaving (see below), as lappet-cloth, -frame, -lay, -loom, -muslin, -needle, -wheel. Also lappet-end, the free end of a lappet of lace, etc., often highly ornamented; † lappet-head, a head-dress provided with lappets (see LAPPETED ppl. a.); lappet-moth, one of several species of bombycid moths; lappet-weaving, a method of weaving by which figures are produced on the surface of cloth by means of needles placed in a sliding frame.
1863. J. Watson, Weaving, 206. The ground of *lappet cloth may be either plain texture, or gauze.
1880. Art Jrnl., Jan., 8/2. Designs … for Lace *Lappet Ends.
1878. A. Barlow, Weaving, xvi. 189. Fig. 193 … represents … the *lappet frame with four needles only fitted to a loom.
1759. Goldsm., Mem. Voltaire (Globe), 500/1. He beheld his ugly friend, dressed up in a *lappet-head and petticoat, approach to salute him.
1781. Cowper, Truth, 139. She sails with lappet-head and mincing airs Dulyat chink of bell to morning prayers.
1863. J. Watson, Weaving, 212. The *Lappet Lay for a power-loom is similar in many respects to a common lay. Ibid., 215. In the best made *lappet looms the wyper shaft extends from the one end of the loom to the other.
1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol. (1818), II. xxi. 222. One of our largest moths—called by collectors the *Lappet-moth.
1882. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., VI. 62. The Lappet Moth (Gastropacha quercifolia) … may be known by its reddish-brown dentated wings.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade., *Lappet-muslin, a white or coloured, sprigged or striped muslin for dresses, &c.
1863. J. Watson, Weaving, 211. *Lappet Needles are made from brass or iron wire. Ibid., 205. So *lappet weaving is just to make representations of different kinds of flowers, birds, and other things, on the surface of woven cloth. Ibid., 218. The *lappet wheel requires to be moved forward one tooth every second shot.
