To grope, to paw, to fondle; to touch with dirty hands (literal). Colloquial verb that means to touch, feel, or handle something roughly, clumsily, or repeatedly, often leaving marks or smudges. Most commonly, it functions as a negative or predatory term for unwelcome, aggressive sexual touching or groping (хватит меня лапать! — “stop groping me!”). The word is built on the root лапа (“paw”), metaphorically reducing a human’s hands to clumsy or animalistic paws.
Они повалили девушку на песок и стали ее лапать, норовя содрать трусы. Девушке удалось вырваться, но компания погналась за ней, не видя приближающегося Боцмана.
They pinned the girl down on the sand and started feeling her up, aiming to tear off her panties. The girl managed to free herself but the group went after her, not seeing that Botsman was coming closer.
(Андрей Таманцев, Пешки в Большой игре, 2001)
