neap

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: nēp, IPA: /niːp/, X-SAMPA: /ni:p/
• Rhymes: -iːp

Etymology 1

Perhaps of Scandinavian origin: compare dialectal Norwegian neip (“forked pole”).

Noun

neap (plural neaps)

1. The tongue or pole of a cart or other vehicle drawn by two animals.
2. A neap tide.

Etymology 2

Old English nēp- in nēpflōd (“neap tide”).

Adjective

neap (not comparable)

1. Designating a tide which occurs just after the first and third quarters of the moon, when there is least difference between high tide and low tide.
   • 1934, Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer:

     Little groups of sailors came swinging along and pushied their way noisily inside the gaudy joints. Sex everywhere: it was slopping over, a neap tide that swept the props from under the city.

Translations

designating type of tide

• Finnish: vajaa- vajaavuoksi = neap tide

• Maori: whēru (mi)
• Spanish: muerta (es) (marea muerta)

Verb

neap (third-person singular simple present neaps, present participle neaping, simple past and past participle neaped)

1. To trap a ship (or ship and crew) in water too shallow to move, due to the smaller tidal range occurring in a period of neap tides.
   • 1770, Captain James Cook, Journal During the First Voyage Round the World^[1], entry for 22 June 1770:

     At 8, being high water, hauld her bow close ashore, but Keept her stern afloat, because I was afraid of Neaping her, and yet it was necessary to lay the whole of her as near the ground as possible.

Anagrams

• nape
• pane
• pean