lath·er

(lăth′ər)

1. A foam formed by soap or detergent agitated in water, as in washing or shaving.

2. Froth formed by profuse sweating, as on a horse.

3. Informal A condition of anxious or heated discomposure; agitation: The students were in a lather over the proposed restrictions.

v. lath·ered, lath·er·ing, lath·ers

v.tr.

1. To spread with or as if with lather.

2. Informal To give a beating to; whip.

v.intr.

1. To produce lather; foam.

2. To become coated with lather.

[Probably from Middle English latheren, to wash or soak clothes, from Old English lēthran, to cover with lather; see leu(ə)- in Indo-European roots.]

lath′er·er n.

lath′er·y adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

lathery - resembling lather or covered with lather

sudsy

lathery

adjective

Consisting of or resembling foam:

foamy, frothy, spumous, spumy, sudsy, yeasty.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

KARACHI -- The 400-bedded Sindh Government Gulshan e Iqbal Hospital has not completed as yet despite the lapse nine years due to traditional lathery and apathy of bureaucracy of Government of Sindh.

400-bed Gulshan hospital project goes neglected

Although Clarkson helped me locate a handful of mature bucks, a couple of them ran before we could even get out of the Polaris Ranger, although a few did give me the privilege of crawling hundreds of yards through sagebrush and prickly pear cacti, getting my hands full of cactus quills and working up a lathery sweat before beating a hasty retreat.

Humbie pie pronghorns: Mother Nature turns an 'easy' into the ultimate challenge

The soaps don't feel the same as conventional bars and each has its own properties and style, some are creamy, some hard, some more lathery than others.

Your Life daily: Follow Catherine's natural route to beauty

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.