rap
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹæp/
rhymes: -æp
homophone: wrap
Forms: form: raps
form: rapping
form: rapped
form: rapped
Etymology: From Middle English rappen, of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish rappa (“to strike, beat, rap”), German rappeln (“to rattle”).
Senses: examples: text: While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
ref: 1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym; Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, in The American Review, volume I, number II, New York, N.Y.; London: Wiley & Putnam, […], →OCLC:
text: He walked softly up the sanded path, tiptoed up the steps and across the piazza, and rapped at the front door, not too loudly, lest this too might attract the attention of the man across the street. There was no response to his rap. He put his ear to the door and heard voices within, and the muffled sound of footsteps. After a moment he rapped again, a little louder than before.
ref: 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars:
glosses: To strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock.
examples: text: With one great peal they rap the door.
ref: 1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove:
text: Maud took an active part in the drive, and with her cries and flourishings of the broken oar was of considerable assistance. I noticed, though, that whenever one looked tired and lagged, she let it slip past. But I noticed, also, whenever one, with a show of fight, tried to break past, that her eyes glinted and showed bright, and she rapped it smartly with her club.
ref: 1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:
glosses: To strike with a quick blow; to knock on.
topics: arts
crafts
engineering
hobbies
lifestyle
metallurgy
metalworking
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To free (a pattern) in a mould by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.
examples: text: The sergeant rapped out a word of command to the troops.
glosses: To utter quickly and sharply.
examples: text: He started to rap after listening to Tupac.
text: He rapped a song to his girlfriend.
text: But the purported rise in violent videos online has led some MPs to campaign for courts to have more power to remove or block material on YouTube. The Labour MP Heidi Alexander said she was appalled after a constituent was robbed at knifepoint, and the attackers could be found brandishing weapons and rapping about gang violence online.
ref: 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:
glosses: To speak (lyrics) in the style of rap music.
examples: text: Three languages rapped, fumbled or rumblingly oozed all the while.
ref: 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 129:
text: Louie said, "I dig this Theo. I'm gonna learn Swahili and rap with him."
ref: 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 432:
text: Got your address from NGTF, I could dig some mail and friends. I'll be released in July of '80, am 24, and like chess, body building, people and of course letters. Nice rapping to you.
ref: 1980 April 12, Mike Sassin, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 19:
glosses: To talk casually; to engage in conversation.
Synonyms: sense: strike something sharply with one's knuckles
word: knock
sense: strike something sharply with one's knuckles
word: noogie
Derived terms: rap and rend
rap at
rap on
rapper
Related terms: emcee
hip-hop