Definition of "lisp"

lisp

/lɪsp/

noun
plural lisps
1. The habit or an act of lisping.
verb
third-person singular simple present lisps, present participle lisping, simple past and past participle lisped
1. To pronounce the consonant ‘s’ imperfectly; to give ‘s’ and ‘z’ the sounds of ‘th’ (/θ/, /ð/). This is a speech impediment common among children.
2. To speak with imperfect articulation; to mispronounce, such as a child learning to talk.
  Quotations
  As yet a Child, nor yet a Fool to Fame, / I liſp'd in Numbers, for the Numbers came.
  1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], page 7, lines 122–123
3. (archaic) To speak hesitatingly and with a low voice, as if afraid.
  Quotations
  Lest when my lisping, guilty tongue should halt.
  1597, Michael Drayton, “[Englands Heroicall Epistles.] (please specify the subtitle)”, in Poems: […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Iohn Smethwicke, […], published 1613
4. (archaic) to express by the use of simple, childlike language.
  Quotations
  But the fashion spreads deeper and wider; the village is infected and the village green; Amelias and Claras sweep your rooms and cook your dinners, gentle Sophias milk your cows, and if you ask a pretty smiling girl at a cottage door to tell you her name, the rosy lips lisp out Caroline.
  1830, Mary Russell Mitford, “Cottage Names”, in Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery, volume IV, London: Whittaker, Treacher, & Co., […], page 68
  to speak unto them after their own capacity, and to lisp the words unto them , according as the babes and children of that age might sound them againagain
  1848, Henry Walter, editor, Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures
5. (archaic) To speak with reserve or concealment; to utter timidly or confidentially.
  Quotations
  "You have done well, sir," said Delwood, calmly, as he placed double the amount of Mrs. Santon's bribe in the Signor's hand; "you have done well, sir; and mark my words,—gold can never relieve a guilty conscience! Go, sir, and see that you lisp not a syllable of this to any one."
  1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds

Definition of "lisp"

lisp

noun

verb

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