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Added 11 October 2026

knap

/næp/ verb

Categories: ActionsRare Words

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about knap at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap. To break away flakes from (a brittle material which fractures conchoidally (“with planar concentric curves”), usually a mineral such as chert, flint, or obsidian), often to form a tool with a sharp edge or point.
  2. To break (something) into small pieces with a cracking sound; to fragment, to smash; also, to break (something) apart sharply; to snap. To break away flakes from (a brittle material which fractures conchoidally (“with planar concentric curves”), usually a mineral such as chert, flint, or obsidian), often to form a tool with a sharp edge or point.
  3. To break away flakes from (a brittle material which fractures conchoidally (“with planar concentric curves”), usually a mineral such as chert, flint, or obsidian), often to form a tool with a sharp edge or point.

noun

  1. A sudden, sharp blow, knock, or slap; a rap, a whack. The sound made by such a blow, knock, or slap. Synonym of chattering damsel (“a component of a traditional mill which creates a vibratory motion to impel portions of grain toward the millstone; a clapper”).
  2. A sudden, sharp blow, knock, or slap; a rap, a whack.
  3. The sound made by such a blow, knock, or slap.

noun

  1. A piece of raised ground or a short, steep slope; a small hill; a hillock, a knoll.
  2. The crest or top of a hill.

verb

  1. To take a small, quick bite at or of (someone or something); to nibble, to nip, to snap.
  2. To take a small, quick bite.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: chiprapsackknoutsmashnailsnipblastwhap

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