lace

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A cord or ribbon used to draw and tie together two opposite edges, as of a shoe.
• noun A delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern.
• noun Gold or silver braid ornamenting an officer's uniform.
• intransitive verb To thread a cord through the eyelets or around the hooks of.
• intransitive verb To draw together and tie the laces of.
• intransitive verb To restrain or constrict by tightening laces, especially of a corset.
• intransitive verb To pull or pass through; intertwine.
• intransitive verb To trim or decorate with or as if with lace.
• intransitive verb To add a touch of flavor to.
• intransitive verb To add a substance, especially an intoxicant or narcotic, to.
• intransitive verb To add or intersperse with something in order to produce a certain effect.
• intransitive verb To streak with color.
• intransitive verb To give a beating to; thrash.
• intransitive verb To be fastened or tied with laces or a lace.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A machine-made lace of coarse cotton thread.
• noun A pillow-lace with geometric designs.
• To catch, as in a net or gin; entrap; insnare.
• To secure by means of a lace or laces; especially, to draw tight and close by a lace, the ends of which are then tied: as, to lace a shoe.
• To adorn with lace, braid, or galloon: as, a laced waistcoat.
• To cover with intersecting streaks; streak.
• To mark with the lash; beat; lash.
• To intermix, as coffee or other beverage, with spirits: as, a cup of coffee laced with a drop of brandy.
• To interlace; intertwine.
• To be fastened or tied by a lace; have a lace: as, shoes or a bandage made to lace in front.
• To practise tight lacing.
• noun A noose; snare; net.
• noun A cord or string used in binding or fastening; specifically, a cord or string used for drawing together opposite edges, as of a corset, a bodice, a shoe, or the like, by being passed out and in through holes and fastened.
• noun Hence, any ornamental cord or braid used as an edging or trimming, especially when made of gold or silver thread. See gold lace, below—4. A fabric of fine threads of linen, silk, or cotton, whether twisted or plaited together or worked like embroidery, or made by a combination of these processes, or (as at the present time) by machinery.
• noun Spirits added to coffee or other beverage.
• noun A stringer; beam.
• noun A blaek-silk lace, in demand because made in unusually large pieces, as for shawls, fichus, etc.
• noun Buckingham trolly (which see, under trolly), and
• noun a lace having a point ground, which is peculiar in having the pattern outlined with, thicker threads, these threads being weighted by bobbins larger and heavier than the rest.
• noun At the presentday, the finest Brussels lace, where needle-point sprigs are applied to Brussels bubbin-ground. See application-lace, above.
• noun A general name for Valenciennes made in Belgium.
• noun Same as bobbin-lace.
• noun A white pillow-lace, originally made at Grammont in Belgium.
• noun A black-silk lace like blond-lace.
• noun In the seventeenth century, a guipure, more delicate in texture and varied in design than other guipures.
• noun At the present day, an application lace, made of sprigs of bobbin-lace sewed upon grounds often made elsewhere, especially of the Alençon réseau.
• noun Lace which has been whitened. See powder, v. t.
• noun Cut and drawn work made in convents in Spain, of patterns usually confined to simple sprigs and flowers
• noun A modern black silk lace with large flower patterns, mostly of Flemish make
• noun A modern needle-made fabric, the pattern usually in large squares.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To be fastened with a lace, or laces.
• transitive verb To fasten with a lace; to draw together with a lace passed through eyelet holes; to unite with a lace or laces, or, figuratively. with anything resembling laces.
• transitive verb To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.