لب

What it means

لب (lab) means lip, both in the anatomical sense and as a metaphor for edge, rim, shore, or bank. It is pure Persian and one of the most idiom-rich short words in the language. لب دریا (lab-e daryâ) means at the water’s edge or by the sea. لب پرتگاه (lab-e partgâh) means at the edge of a cliff. لب زدن (lab zadan) means to sip or to taste a small amount. لب نزدن (lab nazadan) has two related senses: to not touch food or drink at all, and to not say a word, to remain completely silent. لب ور چیدن (lab var chidan) or لب باریک کردن (lab bârik kardan) both describe pouting or sulking. In poetry لب is among the most common images for the beloved’s lips.

How to use it

• لب دریا نشسته بودیم. (lab-e daryâ nashaste budim.) “We were sitting at the water’s edge.”
• به غذا لب نزد. (be ghazâ lab nazad.) “She didn’t touch the food.”
• یه لب از چاییت بزن. (ye lab az châyit bezan.) “Take a sip of your tea.”
• از وقتی دعوا کردیم لب به لب نزده. (az vaghti da’vâ kardim lab be lab nazade.) “Since we argued he hasn’t said a word to me.”

Cultural note

In Persian classical literature, لب is one of the central images of the beloved, appearing thousands of times in ghazals by Hafez, Rumi, and Saadi as a symbol of sweetness, desire, and the unreachable. The literary لب is always the lips of the beloved, perpetually just out of reach. In everyday speech the word has shed that literary weight and functions as a practical term for edges and small tastes, but Persian speakers carry an unconscious awareness of both registers simultaneously. Telling a guest لب بزن (lab bezan, take a sip or try a bite) is an act of hospitality rooted in the same word that poets used for the most intimate proximity.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab