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Sun 14 Aug, 2011 08:06 am
Context:
They were a few short sentences, typed by a young girl with the online handle Smm Miao. But five days later, the torrent that followed them was still flooding this nation’s Internet, and
lapping at the feet of government bureaucrats, censors and the state-controlled press.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/asia/29china.html?scp=2&sq=China%20train%20accident&st=cse
see the "flooding" metaphor?
moving water 'laps' when it moves continously against something.
If you stand on a beach, below high-water level, when the tide is coming in, eventually the sea will lap at your toes, then cover your feet, then it will creep up your legs. Also if your house gets flooded and you remain at ground level or if you stand on the deck of a sinking ship eventually water will lap at your feet. In metaphors, water lapping at feet is usually an indication that a danger or calamity that could or should have been foreseen, has now arrived, and the need to escape is urgent
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