knap

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Verb

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.
   • 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, Or, A Naturall Historie: In Ten Centuries

     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.
   • (Can we date this quote by Dr. H. More and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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?)

Usage notes

(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

• (break flakes from brittle material): chip

Derived terms

• knapper

Related terms

• knapsack

Noun

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

• conchoidal
• flake
• hinge
• pressure flaking

Etymology 2

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

Noun

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
   • (Can we date this quote by Holland and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     the highest part and knap of the same island

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for knap in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

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Danish

Etymology 1

Likely related to næppe (“hardly at all”)

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

knap

1. scant, scarce
2. brief, concise

Inflection

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

knap

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

Etymology 2

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

Noun

knap c (singular definite knappen, plural indefinite knapper)

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

Inflection

Declension of knap

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

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /knɑp/

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

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."

Adjective

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

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

• knappe kop
• knapperd

Adverb

knap

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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

knap

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

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English cnæp.

Noun

knap

1. Alternative form of knappe (“knob”)

Etymology 2

Possibly onomatopoeic.

Noun

knap

1. Alternative form of knappe (“strike”)

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German knapp

Adjective

knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)

1. (colloquial) tight

Adverb

knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)

1. (colloquial) tightly, barely

Related terms

• jedva, tijesno

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Swedish

Noun

knap

1. A cleat

Anagrams

• pank