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Meaning of rap in English
Pronunciation
/ræp/
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Verb
rap
Etymology
Middle English (originally in the senses ‘severe blow with a weapon’ and ‘deliver a heavy blow’): probably imitative and of Scandinavian origin; compare with Swedish rappa‘beat, drub’, also with clap and flap
Definitions
1.
strike sharply
Examples
« rap him on the knuckles »
2.
make light, repeated taps on a surface
Examples
« he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently »
3.
perform rap music
4.
talk volubly
Noun
rap
Etymology
early 19th century: from Irish ropaire‘robber’; used as the name of a counterfeit coin in 18th-century Ireland
Definitions
1.
a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
Examples
« he took the blame for it »
« it was a bum rap »
2.
a gentle blow
3.
the sound made by a gentle blow
4.
voluble conversation
5.
genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment
Examples
« several forms of rap have emerged »
6.
the act of hitting vigorously
Examples
« he gave the table a whack »