Word: knap Part of Speech: verb Etymology: The verb is derived from Late Middle English knappen (“to strike (something)”); further etymology uncertain, probably related to Middle Dutch knappen, cnappen (“to break (something) with a sharp sound, snap; to crack or crackle”) (modern Dutch knappen), probably ultimately onomatopoeic. The noun is derived from Late Middle English knap, knappe (“sharp blow, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from the verb (see above), or related to an ancestor of Danish knep and Swedish knäpp (“a flick, rap, snap”), probably ultimately onomatopoeic. Pronunciation: /næp/ 1. To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap. Labels: transitive Example: He hath made warres to ceaſſe in all the worlde: he hath broken the bowe, he hath knapped the ſpeare in ſonder, ⁊ brẽt [brent] the charettes in the fyre. Example: O God of peace vvhich makeſt an end of vvarre in al the vvorld, and breakeſt the bovve, and knappeſt the ſpeares aſunder, and burneſt the chariots vvith fire; protect vs from vvarre and ſlaughter; ſcatter the nations that delight in vvarre. 2. To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap. Labels: especially, specifically, transitive Example: An average workman will knap 3,000 flints in a day of 12 hours, but a good one will make 4,000 at a pinch. Example: After every five or six shots, check the flint and tighten the jaws, if the flint has shifted. After twenty shots, flip the flint and dry fire the gun. This should knap the edge [of the flint]. 3. To strike (something) sharply; to knock, to rap. Labels: transitive Example: Take one Veſſel of Siluer, and another of VVood, and fill each of them full of VVater, and then knap the Tongs together, as before, about an handfull from the Bottome, and you ſhall finde the Sound much more Reſounding from the Veſſel of Siluer, than from that of VVood: […] ſuch a Communication paſſeth farre better, thorovv VVater, than Aire. Example: "That will be sixpence," he said without looking up. She knapped her lips together and turned on her heel without another word. 4. Followed by off: to break (something) away from another thing by striking or tapping sharply. Labels: transitive Example: VVith his rod […] he knapt of the uppermoſt heads and tops of the poppies. Example: Its [i.e., the foment is] prevalent in fixt Scorbutic Pains, for as much as it ſuſtains the Tone of the parts, layeth the vveary Spirits to reſt, knappeth off the ſharp points of the Salts, and forceth the acrid Ichor to evaporate either by inſenſible Effluvia or Svveat. 5. To say (something) crisply or sharply. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: [T]he evil spirit of the year sixteen hundred and forty-twa is at wark again as merrily as ever, and ilka [every] auld wife in the chimley-neuck will be for knapping doctrine wi' doctors o' divinity and the godly fathers o' the church. Example: And there's Leddy Glendochart that is a real credit to the family, and has travelled, and can knap English with the best—far better than you. 6. To break or fracture suddenly; to snap. Labels: intransitive Example: In ſtringinge of your bovv […] you muſt mark the fit length of youre bovve. […] Yf it [the string] be longe, the bendynge muſt nedes be in the ſmal of the ſtring, vvhich beynge ſore tvvined muſte nedes knap in ſunder to yͤ diſtruction of manye good bovves. 7. To make a cracking or snapping sound; to crack, to snap. Labels: intransitive Example: If the Thigh-bone be luxated invvard, and the Patient young and of a tender Conſtitution, it may be reduced by the Hand of the Chirurgeon: […] [H]e muſt ſuddenly force the Knee up tovvards the Belly, and preſs back the head of the Femur into its Acetabulum, and it vvill knap in. 8. To strike sharply. Labels: intransitive 9. To speak crisply or sharply. Labels: figuratively, intransitive 10. To cheat while gambling, especially at a dice game. Labels: figuratively, intransitive, obsolete