Rap Meaning
/ɹæp/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA sharp blow with something hard.
nounThe blame for something.
Sentence Examples
Do you like rap?
Yeah, but I'll have to take the rap if they slip up.
He was trying to explain the difference between hip hop and rap.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He will ____ firmly on the wooden door before entering the quiet room.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The judge gave him a sharp ____ on the knuckles for his disrespectful behavior in court.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The teacher sat at one end of the bench, with a meek little fellow by his side. When the others were disorderly, this young martyr received a rap; intended, probably, as a sample of what the rest might expect, if they didn't amend."
— 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
"He walked softly up the sanded path, tiptoed up the steps and across the piazza, and rapped at the front door, not too loudly, lest this too might attract the attention of the man across the street. There was no response to his rap. He put his ear to the door and heard voices within, and the muffled sound of footsteps. After a moment he rapped again, a little louder than before."
— 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
"The author (obviously a naturalist of no mean order) received an official rap over the knuckles for trespassing, and for encouraging others to do so. Evidently the instigator of this reprimand had not visited the railway in blackberry time!"
— 1950 March, Eric S. Tonks, “The Whitacre—Hampton-in-Arden Line, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 187:
"Clearspace is holding a bisexuality rap at the center, 485 Mass Ave. 7:30pm. Topic of discussion will be femininity and masculinity."
— 1979 April 14, “Calendar”, in Gay Community News, page 16:
"While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."
— 1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym; Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, in The American Review, volume I, number II, New York, N.Y.; London: Wiley & Putnam, […], →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He will ____ firmly on the wooden door before entering the quiet room.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The judge gave him a sharp ____ on the knuckles for his disrespectful behavior in court.