knap

• IPA^(key): /næp/
• Rhymes: -æp
• Homophone: nap

From Middle English knappen (verb) and knappe (“strike”) (noun), an onomatopeia.

knap (third-person singular simple present knaps, present participle knapping, simple past and past participle knapped)

1. (transitive) To shape a brittle material having conchoidal fracture, usually a mineral (flint, obsidian, chert etc.), by breaking away flakes, often forming a sharp edge or point.
2. (transitive) To rap or strike sharply.
   • Francis Bacon

     Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom.

   • 1820, The Edinburgh Monthly Magazine, volume 8, no.43, page 81, October 1820.

     Some entered the ring in very bad condition, and immediately got a-piping, like hot mutton pies - fell on their own blows, and knapped it every round, till they shewed the white feather and bolted.

   • 1977, Marilynne K. Roach, Encounters with the Invisible World, page 10, →ISBN.

     "That will be sixpence," he said without looking up. She knapped her lips together and turned on her heel without another word.

3. (obsolete, Britain, dialectal) To bite; to bite off; to break short.
   • Dr. H. More:

     He will knap the spears apieces with his teeth.

   • Psalms xlvi. 9 (Book of Common Prayer):

     He breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder.

   • 1821, John Clare, "The Village Minstrel":

     "Horses..turn'd to knap each other at their ease."

4. To make a sound of snapping.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wiseman to this entry?)

(to shape a brittle material) In modern usage knap is restricted to the specific technique of percussion flaking whereby flakes are removed across an entire face or facet leaving a conchoidal fracture. It is distinguished from the more general verb chip and is different from "carve" (removing only part of a face), and "cleave" (breaking along a natural plane). The term is used in archaeology for the production of flaked stone tools and in gunsmithing for the production of gunflints. Knap is rarely used in stonemasonry except to denote fine chipping done with smaller hammers but without the chisel.

• (break flakes from brittle material): chip

• knapper

• knapsack

knap (plural knaps)

1. A sharp blow or slap.
   • 2012, Andrew Ashenden, Basics of Stage Combat: Unarmed, →ISBN.

     It tells the audience the punch was thrown, they hear a knap, and the victim is 'injured'.

• conchoidal
• flake
• hinge
• pressure flaking

From Middle English knappe (“knob”), from Old English cnæp, akin to cnotta (“knot”).

knap (plural knaps) (chiefly dialect)

1. A protuberance; a swelling; a knob.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

2. The crest of a hill
3. A small hill
   • Holland

     the highest part and knap of the same island

• IPA^(key): /knap/, [kʰnɑb̥]
• Rhymes: -ap

knap

1. scant, scarce
2. brief, concise

knap

1. hardly, scarcely
2. just under
3. barely

knap c (singular definite knappen, plural indefinite knapper)

1. button
2. knob
3. controls

• IPA^(key): /knɑp/

• Audio

  (file)

Unknown. Found only in Dutch and Low German (whence German knapp).

knap (comparative knapper, superlative knapst)

1. smart, intelligent, gifted, talented, clever

   Synonyms: begaafd, slim

2. impressive

   Oh, dat is best knap.

   Oh, that's pretty impressive.

   Synonym: netjes

3. attractive, beautiful, handsome

   Synonym: aantrekkelijk

• knappe kop
• knapperd

knap

1. quite, rather, pretty (reinforces what follows)

See the etymology of the main entry.

knap

1. first-person singular present indicative of knappen
2. imperative of knappen

From Old English cnæp.

knap

1. Alternative form of knappe (“knob”)

Possibly onomatopoeic.

knap

1. Alternative form of knappe (“strike”)

From German knapp

knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)

1. (colloquial) tight

knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)

1. (colloquial) tightly, barely

• jedva, tijesno

knap

1. A cleat