Library / English Dictionary

RAP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: rapped    , rapping   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of hitting vigorously

Example:

he gave the table a whack

Synonyms:

belt; knock; rap; whack; whang

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("rap" is a kind of...):

blow (a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon)

Derivation:

rap (strike sharply)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A reproach for some lapse or misdeed

Example:

it was a bum rap

Synonyms:

blame; rap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("rap" is a kind of...):

reproach (a mild rebuke or criticism)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment; several forms of rap have emerged

Synonyms:

hip-hop; rap; rap music

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("rap" is a kind of...):

African-American music; black music (music created by African-American musicians; early forms were songs that had a melodic line and a strong rhythmic beat with repeated choruses)

popular music; popular music genre (any genre of music having wide appeal (but usually only for a short time))

Derivation:

rap (perform rap music)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Voluble conversation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("rap" is a kind of...):

conversation (the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Derivation:

rap (talk volubly)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The sound made by a gentle blow

Synonyms:

pat; rap; tap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("rap" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rap"):

pitter-patter (a series of rapid tapping sounds)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A gentle blow

Synonyms:

rap; strike; tap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("rap" is a kind of...):

blow; bump (an impact (as from a collision))

Derivation:

rap (strike sharply)

rap (make light, repeated taps on a surface)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Talk volubly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "rap" is one way to...):

speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue rap

Derivation:

rap (voluble conversation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strike sharply

Example:

rap him on the knuckles

Synonyms:

knap; rap

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "rap" is one way to...):

strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rap"):

knock (rap with the knuckles)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

rap (the act of hitting vigorously)

rap (a gentle blow)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Perform rap music

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "rap" is one way to...):

perform (give a performance (of something))

Domain category:

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

rap (genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment; several forms of rap have emerged)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make light, repeated taps on a surface

Example:

he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently

Synonyms:

knock; pink; rap; tap

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "rap" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

rap (a gentle blow)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In the very meridian of the night's enjoyment, about an hour after tea, a rap was heard at the door.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I sat up in bed and rapped my knuckles against the rail to make certain that I was truly awake.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The method I contrived was this: I prepared two round sticks, about the bigness of common cudgels; they were thicker at one end than the other, and I covered the thicker ends with pieces of a mouse’s skin, that by rapping on them I might neither damage the tops of the keys nor interrupt the sound.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

At about half past twelve, a remarkably loud rap drew her in haste to the window, and scarcely had she time to inform Catherine of there being two open carriages at the door, in the first only a servant, her brother driving Miss Thorpe in the second, before John Thorpe came running upstairs, calling out, Well, Miss Morland, here I am.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The little tailor, who was only pretending to be asleep, began to cry out in a clear voice: Boy, make me the doublet and patch me the pantaloons, or I will rap the yard-measure over your ears.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“P'raps you might be writin' to her?”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

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.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"An' I don't give a rap. I'm too damned glad to see 'm back. Watch 'm waltz, eh? It's like silk. Who'd blame any girl?"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Thornton rapped Hal’s knuckles with the axe-handle, knocking the knife to the ground.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Her letter was scarcely finished, when a rap foretold a visitor, and Colonel Brandon was announced.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)