lath n also lat [phonetics unavailable]. Cp OED ~ sb 2 'thin, narrow, flat piece of wood used for any purpose.'
1 One of the thin strips of wood nailed on a frame to form a lobster trap.
P 148-65 A small lat is used as a fastening to keep the door of lobster trap closed; it doesn't slip out; placed under tension perpendicular to the lats of the trap. Q 67-28 Lats are one inch wide and spaced one and a half inches apart.
2 A strip of wood with bark attached sawn off a log when producing planks, used for fuel, fencing, etc.
P 148-62 Lats (in a wooden fence). P 65-64 The strips which the edger cuts off live plank are called lats.
3 One of two narrow boards forming crosspieces of a quilt- or mat-frame.
T 43/7-64 [Women would] zig-zag their stitches and when they get that frameful done they'd take out their lats and roll back and continue from where they left off. 1975 POCIUS 38 The quilting frame (and the mat frame) in Newfoundland consisted of four boards, two long pieces and two shorter pieces or 'lats.'
