Verb (used with object) : Waves lapped the shoreline. ,to lap water from a bowl.    From Dictionary.com. 

Verb (used without object) : The water lapped gently against the mooring.    From Dictionary.com. 

Noun : the quiet lap of the sea on the rocks.    From Dictionary.com. 

You see a car wash where the water is there kind of lapping up against the side of the buildings, some convenience stores.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 22, 2008] Reference

You're kind of lapping the NVA and Vet Corp defection.    From Wordnik.com.  [pfblogs.org: The Ad-Free Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator] Reference

"lapping" over large portions of protective booms around pelican rookeries in Barataria.    From Wordnik.com.  [National Nine News] Reference

By then, others will already be lapping up the aid.    From Wordnik.com.  [FINANCIAL AID ANSWERS: HOW TO PAY FOR COLLEGE] Reference

  He sank to his knees and began lapping at my ankles.    From Wordnik.com.  [My Date With Satan] Reference

It grew stronger with each wave lapping against my knees.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Shadow] Reference

A thin, pink tongue came down, lapping at the warm liquid.    From Wordnik.com.  [Bargaining] Reference

There's a new European city lapping at your literary heels.    From Wordnik.com.  [Doree Lewak: Europe's Latest Page-Turner] Reference

City Ground, Nottingham Forest, has the Trent lapping nearby.    From Wordnik.com.  [Which football stadium is closest to water?] Reference

I listened but heard nothing but the water lapping the shore.    From Wordnik.com.  [Nobody Steps Forward] Reference

Hers, a silken patty delicately lapping like a cat faced with dog food.    From Wordnik.com.  [Old Men's Faces] Reference

I was awoken by a sharp pain, there was salt water, lapping at my face.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Case Of The Limehouse Golem] Reference

Place a layer of the slices in the baking dish slightly over lapping them.    From Wordnik.com.  [Mary Ann Esposito: The Real Eggplant Parmesan] Reference

At last the forward end was in the river, with the water lapping against it.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tom of the Raiders] Reference

There is the gentle sound of water lapping against the tub, but nothing else.    From Wordnik.com.  [Improbable Bodies] Reference

Sticky fingers, tongue ringers, lipstick lips lapping that hot silk fur milk.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fur licking City Cats] Reference

He could hear the waves lapping gently outside the back room they had waiting.    From Wordnik.com.  [An Old Sweet Song] Reference

And on and on it goes, like so many waves lapping the shores of Cabo San Lucas.    From Wordnik.com.  [Album review: Zac Brown Band, "You Get What You Give"] Reference

The first faint tinkle of water lapping in the hole had caught his watchful ear.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Iron Star — and what It saw on Its Journey through the Ages] Reference

The laughter breaks harder than the waves, drowning out the smooth constant lapping.    From Wordnik.com.  [Nightswimming] Reference

 The water of the great lakes, lapping at the edge of the city, were murky and gray.    From Wordnik.com.  [Hat Shop Girls] Reference

But so might something as gentle, and as simple, as waves lapping on an ancient shore.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Search For Life] Reference

Today it is lapping at the community from three sides, and residents are begging for help.    From Wordnik.com.  [Devils Lake, North Dakota, Swallows Land And Buildings] Reference

We're all Jim Carrey, lapping up the culture's mother's milk, an idiot's grin on our faces.    From Wordnik.com.  [Gross And Grosser] Reference

Picture espadrilles, lapping waves, and a small garden tended to by Neruda's wife, Matilde.    From Wordnik.com.  [Nicole Campoy-Leffler: Sing To Me: Il Postino, Manon, Cosi Fan Tutte] Reference

There was no sound but the lapping of the water against the boat or the murmur of the wind.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Island House A Tale for the Young Folks] Reference

And the crowd in a hallowed debating chamber of Britain's Oxford University is lapping it up.    From Wordnik.com.  [Off The Wall?] Reference

His eyes are closed and he's wiggling from side to side, tongue hanging out, lapping the water.    From Wordnik.com.  [Swicks Rule!] Reference

Hussey works in solitude, waves lapping gently against his boat, a bell buoy clanging gently in the background.    From Wordnik.com.  [Nat Hussey: Maine Lobsterman Pulls Traps By Hand For 'Zero-Carbon Lobster Harvesting'] Reference

When they drink, gulping up the water, tongues lapping in abandon it sounds like they're going down on someone.    From Wordnik.com.  [Pussy Love] Reference

The article shows a picture of her office, which is a sea tide of papers, lapping over the floor, desk and tables.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Endless Paper Chase] Reference

The dollar has gained strength, and the U.S. is back to its familiar position of lapping Europe and Japan in growth.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Comeback Country] Reference

Now he was going home: the waves outside, lapping at the hull of the Hyundai cruise ship, were in North Korean waters.    From Wordnik.com.  [Monsters No More] Reference

Faint fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines.    From Wordnik.com.  [Louisiana Oil Spill Gets Worse: New Leak Increases Estimated Spill By Five Times] Reference

And where better to do it than in a play that's part of a wave lapping over the British stage: that of extreme young talent.    From Wordnik.com.  [Spur of the Moment; Pygmalion; The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist; The Magical Menagerie] Reference

"Usually we can't wait to get home," adds the other, describing how they eat it on the beach with the waves lapping against the shore.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fish 'n' ships] Reference