noun, plural laths [lath z, laths, lahth z, lahths] /læðz, læθs, lɑðz, lɑθs/.
- a thin, narrow strip of wood, used with other strips to form latticework, a backing for plaster or stucco, a support for slates and other roofing materials, etc.
- a group or quantity of such strips.
- work consisting of such strips.
- wire mesh or the like used in place of wooden laths as a backing for plasterwork.
- a thin, narrow, flat piece of wood used for any purpose.
verb (used with object)
- to cover or line with laths.
- a machine for use in working wood, metal, etc., that holds the material and rotates it about a horizontal axis against a tool that shapes it.
verb (used with object), lathed, lath·ing.
- to cut, shape, or otherwise treat on a lathe.
noun plural laths (lɑːðz, lɑːθs)
- one of several thin narrow strips of wood used to provide a supporting framework for plaster, tiles, etc
- expanded sheet metal, wire mesh, etc, used to provide backing for plaster or rendering
- any thin strip of wood
- (tr) to attach laths to (a ceiling, roof, floor, etc)
- a machine for shaping, boring, facing, or cutting a screw thread in metal, wood, etc, in which the workpiece is turned about a horizontal axis against a fixed tool
- (tr) to shape, bore, or cut a screw thread in or on (a workpiece) on a lathe
- British history any of the former administrative divisions of Kent
n.late 13c., probably from Old English *læððe, variant of lætt “lath,” apparently from a Proto-Germanic *laþþo (cf. Old Saxon, Old Norse latta, Middle Dutch, German latte “lath,” Dutch lat, Middle High German lade “plank,” which is source of German Laden “counter,” hence, “shop”). As a verb, 1530s, from the noun. n.“machine for turning,” early 14c., of uncertain origin, probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish drejelad “turning-lathe,” Old Norse hlaða “pile of shavings under a lathe,” related to hlaða “to load, lade”).