lap up

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Thân thiện
Definition
  1. Verb:
    • To consume a liquid by licking it up with the tongue: The primary meaning describes the action of an animal drinking by using its tongue to lift liquid into its mouth.
    • To accept or receive something eagerly and uncritically: A figurative meaning describing the enthusiastic and often unquestioning acceptance of information, praise, or experiences.
Usage and Examples

  • Literal Usage (Consuming Liquid):

    • The dog lapped up the water from its bowl after the long walk.
    • We watched the kitten lap up the spilled milk.

  • Figurative Usage (Eager Acceptance):

    • The audience lapped up every word of the speaker's inspiring story.
    • He laps up compliments from his colleagues.
    • Tourists lap up the local culture during the festival.
Advanced Usage and Nuances

  • The figurative use often implies a sense of gullibility or a lack of critical judgment on the part of the recipient. It can be used in both positive and slightly negative contexts.

    • Positive: The children lapped up the fairy tale. (They listened with rapt, eager attention.)
    • Slightly Negative: The public lapped up the politician's simplistic promises. (They accepted them too easily without scrutiny.)

  • The phrasal verb is separable. The object (the thing being consumed or accepted) can be placed between "lap" and "up" or after "up."

    • She laps praise up. / She laps up praise.
Variants and Related Words
  • Lap (verb): The base verb, meaning to drink by licking. It is less common than the phrasal verb "lap up."
    • The cat lapped the cream.
  • Lick up (phrasal verb): A close synonym for the literal meaning.
    • The cat licked up the spilled milk.
Synonyms
  • Literal: Drink up, lick up, slurp.
  • Figurative: Devour, soak up, swallow (uncritically), revel in, bask in.
Related Phrasal Verbs
  • Eat up: Can be used figuratively in a very similar way to mean "to accept eagerly."
    • She eats up all the gossip she hears.
  • Soak up: To absorb liquid, or figuratively, to absorb information or an experience eagerly.
    • He soaked up the sun on the beach. (Literal)
    • She soaked up every detail of the lecture. (Figurative)
Related Idioms
  • Drink it in: To absorb or appreciate something fully and eagerly with the senses.
    • She stood on the cliff, drinking in the magnificent view.
  • Hang on someone's every word: To listen to someone with total attention and eagerness. This is a stronger, more specific idiom for the figurative use of "lap up."
    • The students hung on the professor's every word.
Verb
  1. take up with the tongue
    • The cat lapped up the milk
    • the cub licked the milk from its mother's breast

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