To interlace means to weave or twist things together by crossing them over and under each other repeatedly. When you interlace your fingers, you slide them together so each finger from one hand fits between two fingers from the other hand, creating a locked, woven pattern.

Think of how a basket is made: strips of material cross over and under each other in an alternating pattern. Or picture a chain-link fence, where the metal wires interlace to form a strong barrier. When you braid hair, you're interlacing three strands, crossing them over each other again and again.

The word suggests something more complex than just laying things side by side. Interlaced things are woven together in a way that connects them, often making them stronger or more secure than they'd be separately. Medieval knights wore interlaced metal rings called chain mail for protection. Computer monitors once used interlaced scanning, where the screen drew every other line of the picture in an alternating pattern.

You might also hear people say that plot threads are interlaced in a story, meaning different storylines weave together and cross paths, or that someone's speech was interlaced with humor, meaning jokes were woven throughout their talk.