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Meaning of rap in English

  1. Pronunciation

    /ræp/

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  1. 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. 2. make light, repeated taps on a surface

    Examples

    • « he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently »
  3. 3. perform rap music
  4. 4. talk volubly
  5. 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 »
  6. 2. a gentle blow
  7. 3. the sound made by a gentle blow
  8. 4. voluble conversation
  9. 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 »
  10. 6. the act of hitting vigorously

    Examples

    • « he gave the table a whack »

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