lasso

1 of 2

verb

lassoed; lassoing; lassos

transitive verb

: to capture with or as if with a lasso : rope
lassoer noun

lasso

2 of 2

noun

plural lassos or lassoes
: a rope or long thong of leather with a noose used especially for catching horses and cattle : lariat

Examples of lasso in a Sentence

Verb The cowboy lassoed the horse. Noun the cowpuncher skillfully tossed the lasso around the calf's neck
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The songs collage together scenes and observations amid country-rock arrangements that glimmer with reverb and feature loose, lassoing guitar solos. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2024 Six feet tall and 165 pounds in his prime, Gilbert lassoed a whiskey bottle from a gunslinger’s hand from a dozen feet away as a double for Richard Widmark in Edward Dmytryk’s Warlock (1959). Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Feb. 2024 The K-pop hit made a massive splash in the summer of 2012, thanks in large part to a music video that saw Psy and a string of quirky co-stars doing the song’s signature galloping and lassoing dance moves. Katie Atkinson, Billboard, 29 Dec. 2023 In 2006, an urban cowboy from the farms of South Africa corralled and lassoed a 600-pound bull running loose in Newark. Natalie Kainz, NBC News, 14 Dec. 2023 The boats, ideally, come to a stop inches from the bulkhead, then the captains scramble to lasso two lines to the pilings. Jason Nark Kent Nishimura, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2023 Proenza Schouler sent models down the runway in sleek blazers that were lassoed by thin belts, which gave them a peplum-like appearance. Alexis Bennett Parker, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2023 Born on Texas’s Matagorda Peninsula in 1855, the precocious Siringo spent his youth lassoing sand crabs with fishing line and walking barefoot to the schoolhouse. Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023 The company will offer three levels of service, including lassoing in existing services. Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 3 Aug. 2023
Noun
The cowboy is riding a horse, lasso in hand, pursuing a wild bull. Dara Kerr, NPR, 28 Feb. 2024 After going through the motions of stomping their cowboy boots and spinning invisible lassos, the pair ended with a big high five. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 26 Feb. 2024 As a Cowgirl, Peach must use her trusty lasso to take out waves of enemies and capture projectiles to throw back their way, before mounting a steed for an automatic runner sequence dodging exploding barrels. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2024 The lasso works like this: A cartridge with a 7 1/2-foot Kevlar cord with two hooked barbs tied to each end is loaded into the BolaWrap device, experts say. Olivia Diaz, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 This Spider-Man-like lasso is marketed as a policing game-changer. Olivia Diaz, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 Make a lasso on the watermark and click click click click. David Pierce, The Verge, 9 Jan. 2024 To gather thousands of data points on leg length, head size and overall survival, Stroud had to capture each lizard using a tiny lasso and then set to work with calipers before injecting a tiny microchip under its skin. Quanta Magazine, 2 Jan. 2024 After three decades behind bars for shooting the Mexican singer during a concert, Edward Alvarado Gallegos, 64, was paroled in May. Cops with lassos? Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lasso.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Spanish lazo, from Latin laqueus snare

First Known Use

Verb

1807, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1808, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lasso was in 1807

Dictionary Entries Near lasso

Cite this Entry

“Lasso.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lasso. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lasso

1 of 2 noun
las·​so ˈlas-ō How to pronounce lasso (audio) la-ˈsü How to pronounce lasso (audio)
plural lassos or lassoes
: a rope or long leather thong with a noose used especially for catching livestock

lasso

2 of 2 verb
: to catch with a lasso
Etymology

Noun

from Spanish lazo "lasso," from Latin laqueus "noose, snare" — related to lace, lash entry 2 see Word History at lace

More from Merriam-Webster on lasso

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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