If something such as criticism or a problem lands in your lap, you are forced to accept it or deal with it even if it is not really your responsibility. Note: In the first four idioms, `lap' refers to the area at the top of your thighs when you are sitting down, where a child would sit. These problems have landed in the lap of Donald Jackson, an unassuming manager with little international experience. Why should this criticism land in the lap of a soldier, rather than a minister or official? Note: You can also say that something is thrown into your lap. The solution of the funding crisis should not be thrown into the lap of students. Note: Other verbs are sometimes used instead of land or throw. Few governments seem ready to pay the bill for tossing the world's problems into the UN's lap.