rap meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

rap

noun

/ɹæp/

Etymology From Middle English rap, rappe, of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian rapp (“a blow, strike, lash”), Swedish rapp (“a blow, lash, crack”), Danish rap (“a tap, smart, blow”). Compare Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat”). More at rape.

7 senses

1A sharp blow with something hard.
2The blame for something.
3A casual talk.
4Rap music.
5A song, verse, or instance of singing in the style of rap music.
6An appraisal.
7A positive appraisal; a recommendation.

A sharp blow with something hard.

The teacher sat at one end of the bench, with a meek little fellow by his side. When the others were disorderly, this young martyr received a rap; intended, probably, as a sample of what the rest might expect, if they didn't amend.1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
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.1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:

1 more example

The author (obviously a naturalist of no mean order) received an official rap over the knuckles for trespassing, and for encouraging others to do so. Evidently the instigator of this reprimand had not visited the railway in blackberry time!1950 March, Eric S. Tonks, “The Whitacre—Hampton-in-Arden Line, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 187:

Slang, With definite article The blame for something.

You can't act irresponsibly and then expect me to take the rap.

Informal A casual talk.

Clearspace is holding a bisexuality rap at the center, 485 Mass Ave. 7:30pm. Topic of discussion will be femininity and masculinity.1979 April 14, “Calendar”, in Gay Community News, page 16:

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Rap music.

They like listening to rap.

A song, verse, or instance of singing in the style of rap music.

Australia, Informal An appraisal.

a good/great/bad rap

Australia, Informal A positive appraisal; a recommendation.

He gave the novel quite a rap.

Derived terms: 39 terms
antirap, backpack rap, bad rap, battle rap, beat the rap, bum rap, cloud rap, conscious rap, country rap, dungeon rap, emo rap, gangsta rap, gangster rap, jazz rap, Memphis rap, mumble rap, progressive rap, proto-rap, rap back, rap battle, rap battling, rapcore, rap group, raphead, rapless, raplike, rap-like, rapmeister, rap metal, rap music, rap opera, rapophile, rap rock, rapso, rap song, raptastic, ringtone rap, SoundCloud rap, take the rap

rap

verb

Etymology From Middle English rappen, of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish rappa (“to strike, beat, rap”), German rappeln (“to rattle”).

To strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock.

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.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:
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.1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars:

Dated To strike with a quick blow; to knock on.

With one great peal they rap the door.1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove:
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.1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

Arts, Crafts, Engineering, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Metallurgy, Metalworking, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To free (a pattern) in a mould by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.

To utter quickly and sharply.

The sergeant rapped out a word of command to the troops.
"My dear sir!" rapped out the distressed curate, "don't you think that I haven't worried about that? […]"1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:

Ambitransitive To speak (lyrics) in the style of rap music.

He started to rap after listening to Tupac.
He rapped a song to his girlfriend.

1 more example

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.2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:

Informal To talk casually; to engage in conversation.

Three languages rapped, fumbled or rumblingly oozed all the while.1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 129:
Louie said, "I dig this Theo. I'm gonna learn Swahili and rap with him."1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 432:

1 more example

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.1980 April 12, Mike Sassin, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 19:

Synonyms: knock, noogie
Derived terms: outrap, rap and rend, rap at, rap on, rappable, rappage, rapper, rap someone's knuckles
Related terms: emcee, hip-hop

rap

noun

Etymology Uncertain.

A lea or skein of yarn that forms the standard length taken from the reel, 80 yards of worsted or 120 yards of silk or cotton.

[…] and that every hank or skein that shall be used as a binder to tie up or bind together any pound or parcel of yarn shall contain the same number of threads in a rap or lea, and the same number of raps or leas as the other hanks or skeins in the said pound or parcel.1762, The Statutes at Large (Great Britain), page 386:
At each rap the reel was moved slightly to one side, so that the next rap was wound separately, and so on until seven raps had been made, then the seven raps were made up into one hank, […]1881, Alfred Spitzli, A Manual for Managers, Designers, Weavers, and All Others, page 22:

3 more examples

Thus, a rap may be reeled (of cotton or silk 120 yards, of worsted 80 yards), then as one rap is equal to one-seventh of a hank, 1000 grains will be equal to the one-seventh of a pound, so that whatever part of 1000 grains one rap weighs, or whatever number of raps are required to weigh1000 grains, that number of hanks will weigh one pound.1885, Thomas Rotherforth Ashenhurst, A practical treatise on weaving and designing of textile fabrics:
The yarn rap reel is 1½ yard in circumference; 80 rounds or 120 yards make one rap; 7 raps or 840 yards one bank. In 1 lb. of cotton yarn there are 7,000 grains. When one rap weighs 1,000 grains, or seven raps 7,000 grains, the yarn is one hank to the pound, and when ten raps weigh 350 grains it is 28.57 hanks to the pound.1888, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Manchester Meeting, 1887 on the Regulation of Wages by Means of Lists in the Cotton Industry., page 19:
Rule to find constant for beams: Multiply the number of yards in one rap by the number of ends in the beam, and by the number of raps on the beam and divide by 840.1913, How to Build, Equip and Operate a Cotton Mill in the United States, page 408:

rap

verb

To seize and carry off.

To transport out of oneself; to affect with rapture.

rap

noun

Etymology Perhaps contracted from rapparee.

Historical Any of the tokens that passed current for a halfpenny in Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century; any coin of trifling value.

Many counterfeits passed about under the name of raps.1724, Jonathan Swift, “Drapier's Letters”, in 1:
Tie it [her money] up so tight that you can't touch a rap, save with her consent.1886, Mrs. Alexander, Beaton's Bargain:

A whit; a jot.

I don't care a rap.
That's not worth a rap.

rap

verb

to rappel

Derived terms: rap down, rap jumping
Related terms: rap-full

rap

noun

Etymology From RAP (“record of arrest and prosecution”).

Government, Law enforcement US, Abbreviation, Acronym Acronym of record of arrest and prosecution.

Slang A charge, whether or not it results in a conviction.

We got one maybe ID, but when we checked, we found out the suspect's been in Rikers for a year on a drug rap.2014, James Neal Harvey, Mental Case:

Derived terms: murder rap, rap sheet

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

Learn more

Conjugation of “rap”, all tenses