Link Centre Dictionary

rap

UK/ɹæp/ US/ˈræp/ common informal slang uk us
verb (4) noun (6)

verb

1.

strike sharply

  • “rap him on the knuckles”
Synonyms
2.

make light, repeated taps on a surface

  • “he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently”
Synonyms
3.
4.

noun

1.

a reproach for some lapse or misdeed

  • “he took the blame for it”
  • “it was a bum rap”
Synonyms
2.

a gentle blow

Synonyms
3.

the sound made by a gentle blow

Synonyms
4.
5.

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
6.

the act of hitting vigorously

  • “he gave the table a whack”
Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • backpack rap
  • bad rap
  • battle rap
  • beat the rap
  • bum rap
  • cloud rap
  • conscious rap
  • country rap
  • murder rap
  • rap and rend
  • rap at
  • rap on

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.