Word.ws English Dictionary

rap

/ɹæp/

rap noun: a sharp blow with something hard. Also the acronym of record of arrest and prosecution.

Noun (1)

rap (countable and uncountable, plural raps)

  1. (countable) A sharp blow with something hard.
    • 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...1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC
  2. (slang, with-definite-article) The blame for something, a reprimand, censure, or a legal sentence to serve in prison
    • You can't act irresponsibly and then expect me to take the rap.
    Synonyms:
    blame, fall
  3. (informal) A casual talk.
    • 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
  4. (uncountable) Rap music.
    • They like listening to rap.
  5. A song, verse, or instance of singing in the style of rap music.
  6. (Australia, informal) An appraisal.
    • a good/great/bad rap
  7. (Australia, informal) A positive appraisal; a recommendation.
    • He gave the novel quite a rap.

Verb (1)

rap (third-person singular simple present raps, present participle rapping, simple past and past participle rapped)

  1. (intransitive) To strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock.
    • 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
    • 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...1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars
    Synonyms:
    knock, noogie
  2. (dated, transitive) To strike with a quick blow; to knock on.
    • With one great peal they rap the door.1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove
    • Maud took an active part in the drive, and with her cries and flourishings of the broken oar was of considerable assistance. I noticed, though, that whenever one looked tired and lagged, she let it slip past. But I noticed, also, whenever one, with a show of fight, tried to break past, that her...1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC
  3. To free (a pattern) in a mould by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.
  4. To utter quickly and sharply.
    • The sergeant rapped out a word of command to the troops.
    • "My dear sir!" rapped out the distressed curate, "don't you think that I haven't worried about that? […]"1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
  5. (ambitransitive) To speak (lyrics) in the style of rap music.
    • He started to rap after listening to Tupac.
    • He rapped a song to his girlfriend.
  6. (informal, intransitive) To talk casually; to engage in conversation.
    • Three languages rapped, fumbled or rumblingly oozed all the while.1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 129
    • Louie said, "I dig this Theo. I'm gonna learn Swahili and rap with him."1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 432

Noun (2)

rap (plural raps)

  1. A lea or skein of yarn that forms the standard length taken from the reel, 80 yards of worsted or 120 yards of silk or cotton.
    • […] and that every hank or skein that shall be used as a binder to tie up or bind together any pound or parcel of yarn shall contain the same number of threads in a rap or lea, and the same number of raps or leas as the other hanks or skeins in the said pound or parcel.1762, The Statutes at Large (Great Britain), page 386
    • At each rap the reel was moved slightly to one side, so that the next rap was wound separately, and so on until seven raps had been made, then the seven raps were made up into one hank, […]1881, Alfred Spitzli, A Manual for Managers, Designers, Weavers, and All Others, page 22

Noun (3)

rap (plural raps)

  1. (historical) Any of the tokens that passed current for a halfpenny in Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century; any coin of trifling value.
    • Many counterfeits passed about under the name of raps.1724, Jonathan Swift, “Drapier's Letters”, in 1
    • Tie it [her money] up so tight that you can't touch a rap, save with her consent.1886, Mrs. Alexander, Beaton's Bargain
  2. A whit; a jot.
    • I don't care a rap.
    • That's not worth a rap.

Verb (2)

rap (third-person singular simple present raps, present participle rapping, simple past and past participle rapped or rapt)

  1. (transitive) To seize and carry off.
  2. (transitive) To transport out of oneself; to affect with rapture.

Noun (4)

rap (plural raps)

  1. (countable, slang) A charge, whether or not it results in a conviction.
    • We got one maybe ID, but when we checked, we found out the suspect's been in Rikers for a year on a drug rap.2014, James Neal Harvey, Mental Case

Verb (3)

rap (third-person singular simple present raps, present participle rapping, simple past and past participle rapped)

  1. to rappel

Noun (5) capitalized: RAP

RAP (plural RAPs)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of recognized air picture.
  2. (UK, abbreviation, initialism, pensions) Initialism of retirement annuity plan.
  3. (US, abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of record of arrest and prosecution.
    Synonyms:
    rapsheet, rap sheet
  4. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of reclaimed asphalt pavement.
    • 89.2 million tons of RAP are used annually in new asphalt pavement construction in the United States.(Can we date this quote?), “RAP Benefits for Pavement Owners”, in National Asphalt Pavement Association, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025, page 1

Proper noun capitalized: Rap

Rap

  1. (attributive, slang) The Rapaport Diamond Report, the diamond industry standard for the pricing of diamonds.
    • He makes good sense. However, I must comment on "CSO prices rough diamonds to its sightholders based on the Rap List." It does not. It doesn't use the list.1996, Jewelers' Circular/Keystone, volume 167, numbers 4-6, page 38
    • Soon after the Diamond Certificate came into being, Mr Martin Rapaport edited and published a regular weekly paper based on these official certificates. […] The Rap price is usually way off sometimes by as much as 30% or more.2017, Herman Neuman, Secrets of Diamonds

Also used as

rap is also the acronym of record of arrest and prosecution.

rap meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

rap in Hindi

रैप

rap in Tamil

ராப் செய்ய, ரேப் செய்ய

rap in Marathi

रॅप

rap in Urdu

ریپ
More languagesFewer languages
rap in Bengali
র্যাপ, র্যাপ করতে, র্যাপ করার জন্য
rap in Telugu
రాప్, ర్యాప్, రాప్ చేయడానికి
rap in Malayalam
റാപ്പ്, റാപ്
rap in Kannada
ರಾಪ್, ರ್ಯಾಪ್, ರಾಪ್ ಮಾಡಲು
rap in Punjabi
ਰੈਪ, ਰੈੱਪ
rap in Gujarati
રેપ, રૅપ
rap in Odia
ରାପ୍, ରାପ୍ |, ରାପ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
rap in Nepali
र्याप, रैप, र्याप गर्नाका लागि

Examples of rap in a sentence

  • 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.1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company...
  • 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.1950 March, Eric S. Tonks, “The Whitacre—Hampton-in-Arden Line, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 187:
  • After a moment he rapped again, a little louder than before.1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars:
  • But I noticed, also, whenever one, with a show of fight, tried to break past, that her eyes glinted and showed bright, and she rapped it smartly with her club.1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with rap

Synonyms of rap

Forms of rap

Noun
pluralraps
pluralRAPs
Verb
third-person singular presentraps
present participlerapping
past participlerapped
pastrapped
past participlerapt
pastrapt

Past tense of rap: rapped

Plural of rap: raps

Origin of rap

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.

From Middle English rappen, of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish rappa (“to strike, beat, rap”), German rappeln (“to rattle”).

Uncertain.

Words formed from rap

Phrases with rap

Words that rhyme with rap

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about rap

What does rap mean?
Rap means a sharp blow with something hard.
What is rap in Hindi?
Rap in Hindi is रैप. See Rap meaning in Hindi.
How do you use rap in a sentence?
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.
What part of speech is rap?
Rap can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce rap?
Rap is pronounced /ɹæp/.
What is the plural of rap?
The plural of rap is raps.

Words near rap in the dictionary

  1. raoulia
  2. raoulias
  3. Raoult's law
  4. Raoyang
  5. Raozan Upazila
  6. rap
  7. rap and rend
  8. rap at
  9. rap back
  10. rap backs
  11. rap battle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rap (page history and authors); RAP (page history and authors); Rap (page history and authors); rap (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rap (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wrap.wav, En-au-Rap.ogg.

Cite this entry: “rap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.