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🦵 Thigh area 🏃 A circuit 🎯 Responsibility 📏 Overlap part 🌊 To wash gently 🐱 To drink with tongue 🔗 To overlap
lap

lap

57 6.8
A task that suddenly becomes someone's responsibility
  • noun
  • /læp/
  • Informal
translation icon : regazo
  • After months of looking for a job, an amazing opportunity finally fell into my lap.
  • fall into someone's lap

And and here this book deal just landed in my lap on my birthday.

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Examples

  • Leaving this in other people's lap is not the answer.

  • A gift like this will never drop in your lap again.

    Hollywood Ending (2002)

  • We're running out of time because something just fell into my lap this evening that could benefit the both of us.

    Mandao Returns (2020)

  • "Kid, you gotta learn how to grab opportunities when they drop in your lap.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Having this story dropped in my lap felt like some weird act of destiny.

    Academic text (1991)

  • And this opportunity landed in my lap, which was a couple guys from Yale.

    Lex Fridman

  • It fell into my lap... just like it's gonna fall into yours.

    Sleepers (1996)

  • The more we give away, the more good things the Lord drops in our laps.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Subsequently, control of the oil wealth fell into their laps and hugely increased their power.

    Academic text (1993)

  • And now, all those problems have been dumped in the lap of the new AG, former federal judge Michael Mukasey.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

to fall into one's lap
vslap
  • Informal
4 6.4

To get something good without trying or expecting it

is an unexpected duty or control rather than a beneficial gain
to hold the baby
vslap
  • Informal
1 8.8

To have the only responsibility for a hard problem when others avoid it

is a situation of responsibility that can arrive suddenly without others leaving
left holding the baby
vslap
  • Informal
1 9.1

Being the only person who must deal with a problem after others avoid it

is a responsibility that arrives unexpectedly without others abandoning it
to land in someone's lap
vslap
  • Informal
6.6

To get something valuable by surprise without any effort

is specifically about responsibility arriving into someone's control suddenly

Idioms

lap of luxury
  • Informal
5 4.4

A life with great comfort and a lot of money

to fall into one's lap
  • Informal
4 6.4

To get something good without trying or expecting it

to fall into someone's lap
  • Informal
1 6.5

To get something good without effort or planning

lap of the gods
  • Informal
1 9.9

Something not controlled by people and decided by chance

to land in someone's lap
  • Informal
6.6

To get something valuable by surprise without any effort

jaw in lap
  • Informal
9.9

A look of great surprise with the mouth open

Compounds

victory lap
3 4.4

A public display people make to celebrate a big win or success

victory lap
1 3.8

An extra lap a race winner takes to celebrate while people watch

pace lap
  • Jargon
1 7.2

The first time cars go around the track in a race when drivers go slowly to prepare for the start

lap joint
  • Specialized
1 5.8

A place where two pieces lie on top of each other and are fastened together

lap of honour
  • UK
1 5.0

A run or walk around a track that celebrates a win and thanks fans

lap choly
  • Jargon
7.2

Operation to remove the gall bladder using small cuts and a thin camera

lap covering
6.7

A piece of cloth that covers your thighs when you sit

lap-strake
  • Specialized
9.9

The outer part of a boat made from boards that overlap along their edges

lap-streak
  • Specialized
9.9

Made of overlapping wooden boards that form the boat's bottom and sides

gun lap
  • Jargon
8.3

The final lap of a race that starts with a gunshot

How Responsible

hold
209 4.2
lap
  • Informal
57 6.8

Surface Forms

lap singular
laps plural

Etymology

When something falls into your lap the image is simple and literal: it lands on your thighs. That is why the phrase means a job or responsibility suddenly becomes yours.