Irish

Noun

lasc f ‎(genitive singular laisce, nominative plural lasca)

1. lash; whip
   • 2010, Louis de Paor, Máistir Dána / Past Master, in agus rud eile de / and another thing, pages 17 (Irish) and 16 (English):

     Nuair a tharraing sé lasc

     gan choinne leis ar a dheasc

     tháinig allas amach tré bhoinn ár gcos,

     When he drew a lash of the baton

     on the desk without warning

     we could feel the sweat on the soles of our feet,

2. switch
3. (Gaelic football) punt

Declension

Derived terms

• lasc-chlár ‎(“switchboard”)

Verb

lasc ‎(present analytic lascann, future analytic lascfaidh, verbal noun lascadh, past participle lasctha)

1. lash, whip
2. kick, strike
   • Máire Mhac an tSaoi, An Crann (The Tree), reprinted with an English translation in Declan Kiberd's Inventing Ireland, page 603:

     Thit an tóin as mo bholg

     is faoi mar a gheobhainn lascadh cic

     nó leacadar sna baotháin

     íon taom anbhainne isteach orm

     a dhein chomh lag san mé

     gurb ar éigin a bhí ardú na méire ionam

     as san go ceann trí lá.

     […]

     Paul Muldoon's version is as unbuttoned as the original:

     […]

     The bottom falling out of my belly

     as if I had got a kick[ing] up the arse

     or a punch in the kidneys.

     A fainting-fit coming over me

     that took the legs from under me

     and left me so zonked

     I could barely lift a finger

     till Wednesday.

3. dash
4. (with ann/as) switch (on/off)

Conjugation