# lask

> English word · Verb · IPA /lɑːsk/

## Definitions
1. To have loose bowels; to suffer from diarrhoea.

## Etymology
From Middle English lasken (“to diminish, weaken (the blood or other body fluids, body tissues, etc.); to thin (the blood through bloodletting); to alleviate (pain, sickness); to grow weak; to shorten (one’s life)”) [and other forms], from Old Northern French *lasquer, Old French lascher, laschier (“to let go of, release; to loosen, relax”) (modern French lâcher (“to let go of, release; to loosen”)), from Vulgar Latin *lascāre, *lassicāre, from Latin *laxicāre, the frequentative of Latin laxāre, the present active infinitive of laxō (“to relax, weaken; to release, undo; to make wide, open”), from laxus (“free, loose, slack; roomy, spacious, wide”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-, *(s)leh₁g- (“faint; weak”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lask