knap
/næp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.61 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap.
Transitive verb
verb
To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap.
Transitive verb
verb
Followed by off: to break (something) away from another thing by striking or tapping sharply.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "He hath made warres to ceaſſe in all the worlde: he hath broken the bowe, he hath knapped the ſpeare in ſonder, ⁊ brẽt [brent] the charettes in the fyre."
- "O God of peace vvhich makeſt an end of vvarre in al the vvorld, and breakeſt the bovve, and knappeſt the ſpeares aſunder, and burneſt the chariots vvith fire; protect vs from vvarre and ſlaughter; ſcatter the nations that delight in vvarre."
- "VVhy I tye about thy vvriſt, / Julia, this my ſilken tvvist, / […] / 'Tis but ſilke that bindeth thee; / Knap the thread, and thou art free; / But 'tis othervviſe vvith me: / I am bound, and faſt bound ſo, / That from thee I cannot go; / If I co'd, I vvo'd not so."
- "An average workman will knap 3,000 flints in a day of 12 hours, but a good one will make 4,000 at a pinch."
- "After every five or six shots, check the flint and tighten the jaws, if the flint has shifted. After twenty shots, flip the flint and dry fire the gun. This should knap the edge [of the flint]."
- "Not all chert and non-chert materials are amenable to knapping. […] Because a knapper removes flakes by loading force into a small area of the target core, materials that contain many inclusions or are coarse-grained are difficult to knap – the inclusions deflect energy producing irregular results."
Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English knappen (“to strike (something)”); further etymology uncertain, probably related to Middle Dutch knappen, cnappen (“to break (something) with a sharp sound, snap; to crack or crackle”) (modern Dutch knappen), probably ultimately onomatopoeic. The noun is derived from Late Middle English knap, knappe (“sharp blow, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from the verb (see above), or related to an ancestor of Danish knep and Swedish knäpp (“a flick, rap, snap”), probably ultimately onomatopoeic.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: knappen, knap, cnæp, knappr, *knappô, *gnebʰ-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /næp/
- British English: /næp/
Usage
Inflected Forms
knaps (present, singular)
knapping (participle, present)
knapped (participle, past)
knapped (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
knapped (first person, past)
knappest (archaic, present)
knapped (past, second person)
knappedst (archaic, past)
knappeth (archaic, present)
knapped (past, singular)