knap

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English enm, an onomatopeia

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to knap

Third person singular
knaps

Simple past
knapped

Past participle
knapped

Present participle
knapping

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

  1. (transitive) To shape a hard, brittle material (such as flint, obsidian, chert etc.) by breaking away sections or flakes, often forming a sharp edge or point. Distinguished from "carve" because each fracture goes across one entire face or facet, and from "cleave" because breaking (knapping) vitreous, brittle homogeneous (i.e., not crystalline) materials inevitably results in curved, conchoidal fractures.

[edit] Usage notes

The verb chip is often used as a synonym of the more specific word knap. The term knap is used in archaeology for the production of flaked stone tools and in gunsmithing for the production of gunflints. Knap is often used in more formal discourse for the general term percussion flaking. Knap is rarely used in stonemasonry except to denote fine chipping done with smaller hammers but without the chisel. Knapping is indeed percussion flaking but rarely is used to describe the production of gunflints.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] See also

[edit] Etymology 2

Middle English, from Old English cnæp, akin to cnotta 'knot'

[edit] Noun

Singular
knap

Plural
knaps

knap (plural knaps) (chiefly dialect)

  1. The crest of a hill
  2. A small hill

[edit] Danish

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /knap/, [kʰnɑb̥]

[edit] Adjective

knap (neuter knapt, definite and plural knappe)

  1. scanty, scarce
  2. brief, concise

[edit] Adverb

knap

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

[edit] Noun

knap c. (singular definite knappen, plural indefinite knapper)

  1. button
  2. knob
  3. controls

[edit] Inflection


[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

knap, knappe (comp. knapper(e), superl. knapst(e))

  1. smart, intelligent, gifted, talented
    Sam is een knappe kop die altijd goede cijfers behaalt, terwijl zijn minder knap broertje elke schooldag deerlijk van de riem op de blote billen krijgt, enkel in het weekend krijgt diens knap werk in het stadion de lof en boekenwurm Sam de billenkoek
    Sam is a brainiac who always gets good marks, his less bright kid brother gets the belt bare-butt dearly every schoolday, only in the weekend his smart performance in the stadium gets the praise and bookworm Sam the spanking
  2. attractive, beautiful, handsome

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Adverb

knap (invariable)

  1. quite/rather ... (reinforces what follows)

[edit] Verb form

knap

  1. imperative form of knappen
  2. singular present imperfect form of knappen

[edit] Swedish

[edit] Noun

knap

  1. A cleat
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