Definition of "lave"

lave¹

/leɪv/

verb
third-person singular simple present laves, present participle laving, simple past and past participle laved
1. (transitive, obsolete) To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
  Quotations
  From that fair flood which Ilion's wall did lave
  a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache. From the Sixth Book of the Iliad.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760
2. (transitive) To draw, as water; drink in.
  Quotations
  The boy walked out and squatted and laved up the dark water.
  2006, Cormac McCarthy, The Road, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, page 38
3. (transitive) To give bountifully; lavish.
4. (intransitive) To run down or gutter, as a candle.
5. (intransitive, dialectal) To hang or flap down.
6. (transitive, intransitive, literary or poetic) To wash.
  Quotations
  In her chaste current oft the goddess laves.
  1713, Alexander Pope, “Windsor-Forest. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717
  the tranquil tide, / That laves the pebbled shore.
  1789, William Lisle Bowles, 'Sonnet I' from, Fourteen Sonnets
  Delicious is your shelter to the soul, / As to the hunted hart the sallying spring, / Or stream full-flowing, that his swelling sides / Laves, as he floats along the herbaged brink
  1727, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768
7. To lick.
  Quotations
  […] he drawled, and bent to lave each nipple with his tongue till the satin was wet and clinging.
  2011 July 15, Miranda Lee, The Boss's Baby, Harlequin
  Alexander went from laving at her breasts to nuzzling her belly and then his mouth was on her bare thigh, nibbling at her flesh as his fingers delved inside her sheath. She felt herself stretch and squeeze against his long fingers.
  2011 August 1, Eliza Knight, A Lady's Charade, Eliza Knight, page 122
  Liam's mouth was so hot and wet on his cock, his tongue so wicked, laving his shaft expertly with smooth, slick strokes, delving into his slit and swiping away the fluid leaking from it. Why was Liam doing this?
  2014 February 21, Scarlet Blackwell, Beached Hearts, Totally Entwined Group (USA+CAD)
  He continued to lave her with gentle laps, while his fingers caressed her until she cried out and her whole body convulsed. He felt her muscles contracting around his fingers, but he didn't stop until he'd wrung every last shiver from [her].
  2014 May 1, Leslie Kelly, Jo Leigh, Karen Foley, Susanna Carr, Harlequin Blaze May 2014 Bundle: An Anthology, Harlequin
  He pressed them back down and continued licking, laving at her as her inner muscles contracted around his fingers and she panted out his name. He didn't relent until the last shudder rippled through her beautiful body.
  2015 June 11, Melissa Foster, Healed by Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens), World Literary Press
  […] but it took only a few moments of his tongue laving at her core before she was exploding in a mind-drugging climax that made her throat sore from her cries.
  2016 April 15, Elizabeth Lennox, The Prince's Forbidden Lover, Elizabeth Lennox Books LLC

lave²

/leɪv/

noun
uncountable
1. (archaic or dialectal) The remainder, rest; that which is left, remnant; others.
  Quotations
  Then they set upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to flight[.]
  1885, Richard F. Burton, chapter XII, in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume I, The Burton Club, page 114
  Give to me the life I love, / Let the lave go by me...
  1896 (posthumously), Robert Louis Stevenson, Songs of Travel and other verses.
2. (dialectal) A crowd
  Quotations
  Of prelates proud, a populous lave, And abbots boldly there were known.
  1807, Ancient historic ballads - Page 72

Definition of "lave"

lave1

verb

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lave2

noun

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lave¹

lave²