Crap Meaning
/kɹæp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe husk of grain; chaff.
nounSomething worthless or of poor quality; junk.
Sentence Examples
Holy crap, who's the asshole who dares call me in the middle of the night?!
I cook, but I'm really crap at it.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He threw the old ____ from the drawer into the trash bin.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Holy ____, who's the asshole who dares call me in the middle of the night?!
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Old Dutch krappender. Old French crappe Middle French crapebor. Middle English crappe English crap From Middle English crappe, also in plural: crappys, craps (“chaff; buckwheat”), from Middle French crape, from Old French crappe, crapin (“chaff”) (compare Medieval Latin crappa pl, also crapinum), from Old Dutch krappen (“to cut off, pluck off”) (whence Middle Dutch crappe, crap (“a chop, cutlet”), whence Dutch krip (“a steak”)). Related to crop.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""My wife and I have asked a crowd of craps
To come and waste their time and ours: perhaps
You'd care to join us?""
— 1971, Philip Larkin, Vers de Société:
"'Well, the case is all yours,' said Binswanger grudgingly. 'But the Commissioner sure don't like having this bastard crappin' away on his own front doorstep while Mr Hoover sits down in Washington well to leeward of the stink. Why don't we pull him in on tax evasion or misuse of the mails or parkin' in front of a hydrant or sumpn? Take him down to the Tombs and give 'em the works? If the Feds won't do it, we'd be glad to oblige.'"
— 1954, Ian Fleming, “The Big Switchboard”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 36:
"To test the possibility that her husband’s luck was indestructible, Mary went to the crap tables and made a small bet."
— 1974, John Savage, The Winner’s Guide to Dice, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, page 16:
"I step up to the least-crowded crap table, taking my place to the right of a country-and-western-type stickwoman with tightly permed blond hair who looks as if she would be more comfortable dressed in the square-dance outfit of the Frontier than wearing the chinoiserie, or maybe the japonaiserie, of her purple kimono uniform."
— 1992, Edward Allen, Mustang Sally, New York, N.Y.; London: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 72:
"Separately, you are playing in a crap game. The crap bets earn you $20,000 a year so long as rates stay put but could cost you a $100,000 or $200,000 loss if rates go up."
— 2014 December 29, William Baldwin, “Yield Games”, in Forbes, page 103:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He threw the old ____ from the drawer into the trash bin.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Holy ____, who's the asshole who dares call me in the middle of the night?!