knap

Meanings

1. To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap.
2. To break away flakes from (a brittle material which fractures conchoidally (“with planar concentric curves”), usually a mineral such as chert, flint, or obsidian), often to form a tool with a sharp edge or point.
3. To strike (something) sharply; to knock, to rap.
4. Followed by off: to break (something) away from another thing by striking or tapping sharply.
5. To say (something) crisply or sharply.
6. To break or fracture suddenly; to snap.
7. To make a cracking or snapping sound; to crack, to snap.
8. To strike sharply.
9. To speak crisply or sharply.
10. To cheat while gambling, especially at a dice game.

1. A sudden, sharp blow, knock, or slap; a rap, a whack.
2. The sound made by such a blow, knock, or slap.
3. Synonym of chattering damsel (“a component of a traditional mill which creates a vibratory motion to impel portions of grain toward the millstone; a clapper”).
4. A method of cheating at a dice game.

1. A piece of raised ground or a short, steep slope; a small hill; a hillock, a knoll.
2. The crest or top of a hill.

1. To take a small, quick bite at or of (someone or something); to nibble, to nip, to snap.
2. To take a small, quick bite.

1. Obsolete spelling of nap (“to arrest (someone); to grab or nab (someone or something); to steal (something); (obsolete) to receive (severe punishment), especially during a boxing match or a flogging; (generally) to receive (something)”).

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.

Translations