knap

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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.
    • 1631, [Francis Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] VVilliam Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:
      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, dialect) To bite; to bite off; to break short.
  4. To make a sound of snapping.
    • 1676, Richard Wiseman, Severall Chirurgical Treatises
      Press back the head of the Femur into its Acetabulum , and it will knap in
Usage notes[edit]

(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.

Synonyms[edit]
  • (break flakes from brittle material): chip
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

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'.

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

knap (plural knaps) (chiefly dialect)

  1. A protuberance; a swelling; a knob.
  2. The crest of a hill
  3. A small hill

References[edit]

knap in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Likely related to næppe (“hardly at all”)

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

knap

  1. scant, scarce
  2. brief, concise

Inflection[edit]

Inflection of knap
Positive Comparative Superlative
Common singular knap — —2
Neuter singular knapt — —2
Plural knappe — —2
Definite attributive1 knappe — —
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Adverb[edit]

knap

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

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse knappr, from Proto-Germanic *knappô.

Noun[edit]

knap c (singular definite knappen, plural indefinite knapper)

  1. button (in clothes etc.)
  2. button (in machines)

Inflection[edit]

Declension of knap
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative knap knappen knapper knapperne
genitive knaps knappens knappers knappernes

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Of unknown origin. Found only in Dutch and Low German (whence German knapp). Compare Ancient Greek κνάπτω (knáptō, “to card wool”), κνέφαλλον (knéphallon, “flock, wool”), compared in the sense of "tight-fitting, shapely."[1][2]

Adjective[edit]

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
Inflection[edit]
Inflection of knap
uninflected knap
inflected knappe
comparative knapper
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial knap knapper het knapst
het knapste
indefinite m./f. sing. knappe knappere knapste
n. sing. knap knapper knapste
plural knappe knappere knapste
definite knappe knappere knapste
partitive knaps knappers —
Derived terms[edit]

Adverb[edit]

knap

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

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb[edit]

knap

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010) , “knap2”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
  2. ^ P.A.F. van Veen en N. van der Sijs (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2e druk, Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht/Antwerpen

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old English cnæp.

Noun[edit]

knap

  1. Alternative form of knappe (“knob”)

Etymology 2[edit]

Possibly onomatopoeic.

Noun[edit]

knap

  1. Alternative form of knappe (“strike”)

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From German knapp

Adjective[edit]

knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)

  1. (colloquial) tight

Adverb[edit]

knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)

  1. (colloquial) tightly, barely

Related terms[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

knap

  1. A cleat

Anagrams[edit]

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