rap

1 syllable · also rapped, rapping

Quick answer

As a noun, rap means a sharp blow with something hard. As a verb, it means strike something sharply with one's knuckles.

Meanings of rap

25 meanings

A sharp blow with something hard.
slangBlame for something.
“You can't act irresponsibly and then expect me to take the rap.”
informalA casual talk.
music genreRap music.
A song, verse, or instance of singing in the style of rap music.
AustraliainformalAn appraisal.
“a good/great/bad rap”
AustraliainformalA positive appraisal; a recommendation.
“He gave the novel quite a rap.”
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.
A whit; a jot.
“I don't care a rap.”
“That's not worth a rap.”
slangA charge, whether or not it results in a conviction.
A reproach for some lapse or misdeed
“he took the blame for it”
“it was a bum rap”
Similar: blame
The sound made by a gentle blow
Similar: pat, tap
Voluble conversation
Genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment; several forms of rap have emerged
Similar: rap music, hip-hop

Older and rare meanings (1)

historicalAny of the tokens that passed current for a halfpenny in Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century; any coin of trifling value.

Acronym of record of arrest and prosecution.

To strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock.
metalworkingTo free (a pattern) in a mould by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.
To utter quickly and sharply.
“The sergeant rapped out a word of command to the troops.”
To speak (lyrics) in the style of rap music.
“He started to rap after listening to Tupac.”
“He rapped a song to his girlfriend.”
informalTo talk casually; to engage in conversation.
To seize and carry off.
To transport out of oneself; to affect with rapture.
Make light, repeated taps on a surface
“he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently”
Similar: tap, knock, pink