Laze and lase are commonly confused words that are pronounced in the same way when spoken aloud but are spelled differently and mean different things, which makes them homophones. We will examine the different meanings of the homophonic words laze and lase, the word origin of the terms, and some examples of their English usage in sentences.
Laze means to relax, to loll about, to behave in a lazy manner. Someone who is known to laze often is considered indolent, however, there are times when it is appropriate to laze and recharge one’s energy. Laze is an intransitive verb, which is a verb that does not take an object. Related words are lazes, lazed, lazing. The word laze came into use in the late 1500s as a backformation from the word lazy.
Lase means to function as a laser or to undergo a procedure with a laser. Lase is verb, related words are lases, lased, lasing. The word lase is also a backformation from the word laser, a word that came into use in the 1960s from an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. A laser concentrates the energy of light.
Examples
“Instead of spending your vacation racing to nab pool chairs in the morning, you can laze away the hours by the pool, play golf, and hike,” says Kristen Meckem, an independent travel advisor for Brownell Travel, a Virtuoso agency. (Reader’s Digest)
With a breathtaking view of South China Sea, our Premier Room offers a spacious balcony where I can laze on the outdoor chair, and chill and watch the sun set this evening. (The New Straits Times)
They have similar Q factors and, hence, lase with almost identical thresholds. (Laser Focus World)
Instead of inducing cells to lase with external mirrors, this time the team has implanted “mirrors” in the form of oil droplets and polystyrene beads inside cells. (Motherboard)
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