Word.ws English Dictionary

raps someone's knuckles

raps someone's knuckles is the third-person singular simple present indicative of rap someone's knuckles.

Meaning of rap someone's knuckles

Verb

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

  1. (literally) to tap one's knuckles on an object such as a desk or wall to attract attention or as a signal of commmunication.
    • Just rap your knuckles on the wall when you're ready to go.
  2. (dated, idiomatic) to give someone a punishment.
    • If the sales department doesn't get organized soon, the CEO is going to rap their knuckles.
  3. (archaic, literally) to strike someone on the back of the hand usually as a method of punishment.
    • In the old days the teacher would rap someone's knuckles with a ruler if they misbehaved in class.

Questions about raps someone's knuckles

What is raps someone's knuckles the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Raps someone's knuckles is the third-person singular simple present indicative of rap someone's knuckles.

Words near raps someone's knuckles in the dictionary

  1. Rappville
  2. raps
  3. raps at
  4. raps back
  5. raps down
  6. raps someone's knuckles
  7. rapscal
  8. rapscallion
  9. rapscallionism
  10. rapscallionly
  11. rapscallionry

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: raps someone's knuckles (page history and authors); rap someone's knuckles (page history and authors). 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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