What does lather mean?
Word: Lather
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Lather means a white mass of tiny bubbles made when soap is rubbed with water. As a verb, it means to cover something with these bubbles.
Synonyms: suds
Word origin: From Old English, with links to the Old Norse word lauthr.
How do you spell lather?
Syllables: lath - er
Tricky part: Students who know leather often slip an extra e into the first syllable here, since the two words look alike and share their th.
Watch out for: lether, larther, laither
Memory tip: Think of bath time: the a of bath is the a you need before the th.
Lather in a sentence
Example 1: Scrub the kitchen tiles until the cleaning powder forms a thick lather.
Example 2: The hotel's small soap bars give a gentle lather that smells of neem.
Example 3: Riya lathered the dog's coat with a mild shampoo while Papa held the hose.
Fun Fact
Soap makes far less lather in hard water, because minerals such as calcium react with it and form scum; science teachers use this as a simple test of water hardness.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Twins
Read both sentences and choose the correct option:
1. The new soap gave a rich ___ even in cold water. 2. The old cricket ball was covered in scuffed red ___.
a) lather/leather
b) leather/lather
c) 'leather' in both
d) 'lather' in both
Show answer
a) lather/leather. Soap gives bubbles, while a cricket ball is stitched from treated animal hide.
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
lath__
a) ar
b) ur
c) or
d) er
Show answer
d) er. This word closes just as father and gather do.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with a word of similar meaning:
1. lather 2. summit 3. hamlet a. village b. foam c. peak
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
c) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
d) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
Show answer
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. Lather is foam on the skin, a summit is the peak of a hill, and a hamlet is a very small village.
Sound Check
In which word is 'th' pronounced differently?
a) author
b) feather
c) gather
d) lather
Show answer
a) author. Author has the soft breathy sound of thin; the other three have the voiced sound of this.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Mohan has just lathered his hands at the basin. What should he do next?
a) wet them under the tap
b) dry them on a towel
c) rinse them under the tap
d) put on a pair of gloves
Show answer
c) rinse them under the tap
2. In which job would you most often work up a lather?
a) a baker kneading dough
b) a tailor cutting cloth
c) a potter shaping clay
d) a barber giving a shave
Show answer
d) a barber giving a shave
