lave
/leɪv/verb, noun
lave is spelled L-A-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 72,332nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, lave means “To bathe or wash (someone or something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lave?
| Letters | 4: L-A-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 72,332nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lave?
Lave appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 72,332nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lave?
- US /leɪv/
Lave has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lave.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lave?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lave from its last stressed vowel (/eɪv/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: vale, veal, eval, leva, avel.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lave
- laves present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- laving participle, present
- laved participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- lafe
- laif
- law
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lave mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To bathe or wash (someone or something).
- 2
Of a river or other water body: to flow along or past (a place or thing); to wash.
- 3
Followed by into, on, or upon: to pour (water or some other liquid) with or as if with a ladle into or on someone or something; to lade, to ladle.
- 4
To remove (something), as if by washing away with water.
- 5
To surround or gently touch (someone or something), as if with water.
- 6
Chiefly in sexual contexts: to lick (someone or something).
- 7
archaicobsoleteFollowed by out or up: to draw or scoop (water) out of something with a bucket, scoop, etc.; specifically, to bail (water) out of a boat.
- 8
To bathe or wash.
- 9
obsoleterareOf ears: to droop, to hang down.
noun
- 1
An act of bathing or washing; a bath or bathe, a wash.
- 2
rareThe sea.
- 3
That which is left over; a remainder, a remnant, the rest.
- 4
rareA relict, a widow.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteChiefly in lave ears: of ears: drooping, hanging down.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).