If you say that someone laps up something such as information or attention, you mean that they accept it eagerly, usually when you think they are being foolish for believing that it is sincere.
Their audience will lap up whatever they throw at them. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
He lapped up the attention and the opportunity to voice his thoughts. [VERBPARTICLE noun (not pronoun)]
They just haven't been to school before. They're so eager to learn, they lap it up. [VERB noun PARTICLE]
2. lap [sense 6]
See full dictionary entry for lap
lap up in British English
verb(tr, adverb)
1.
to eat or drink
2.
to relish or delight in
he laps up old horror films
3.
to believe or accept eagerly and uncritically
he laps up tall stories
lap up in American English
1.
to take up (liquid or liquid food) by lapping
2. Informal
to eat or drink greedily
3. Informal
a.
to accept with enthusiasm
b.
to believe too readily
See full dictionary entry for lap
Examples of 'lap up' in a sentence
lap up
The smiling couple appear to lapping up their time together.
The Sun (2016)
Her fellow holidaymakers lapped up the glorious view.
The Sun (2012)
Chinese translation of 'lap up'
lap up
vt
(lit)[milk etc]舔 (tiǎn)
(fig)[flattery, news story]欣然接受 (xīnrán jiēshòu)
See lap
lap
(læp)
n(c)
[of person]大腿的上方 (dàtuǐ de shàngfāng)
(in race) 圈 (quān)
vt
[milk etc] (also lap up) 舔 (tiǎn)
[shore, cliff, pier] (also lap against) 拍打 (pāidǎ)
[competitor] (in race) 领(領)先 ... 一圈 (lǐngxiān ... yī quān)
vi
to lap against sth[waves, water]拍打某物 (pāidǎ mǒuwù)