knap
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English knappen (verb) and knappe (“strike”) (noun), an onomatopeia.
Verb
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- (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.
- (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.
- Francis Bacon
- (obsolete, UK, dialect) 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."
- Dr. H. More:
- 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
Related terms
Noun
knap (plural knaps)
- 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'.
- 2012, Andrew Ashenden, Basics of Stage Combat: Unarmed, →ISBN.
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)
- A protuberance; a swelling; a knob.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
- The crest of a hill
- A small hill
- Holland
- the highest part and knap of the same island
- Holland
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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)
Danish
Pronunciation
Adjective
knap
Inflection
Inflection of knap | |||
---|---|---|---|
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
Indefinte common singular | knap | — | —2 |
Indefinite 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
Noun
knap c (singular definite knappen, plural indefinite knapper)
Inflection
common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | knap | knappen | knapper | knapperne |
genitive | knaps | knappens | knappers | knappernes |
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Unknown. Found only in Dutch and Low German (whence German knapp).
Adjective
knap (comparative knapper, superlative knapst)
- smart, intelligent, gifted, talented, clever
- impressive
- Oh, dat is best knap.
- Oh, that's pretty impressive.
- Synonym: netjes
- attractive, beautiful, handsome
- Synonym: aantrekkelijk
Inflection
Declension 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
Adverb
knap
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
knap
- (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present indicative of knappen
- (deprecated template usage) imperative of knappen
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English cnæp.
Noun
knap
- Alternative form of knappe (“knob”)
Etymology 2
Possibly onomatopoeic.
Noun
knap
- Alternative form of knappe (“strike”)
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] German knapp
Adjective
knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)
Adverb
knap (Cyrillic spelling кнап)
Related terms
Swedish
Noun
knap
- A cleat
Anagrams
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æp
- English terms with homophones
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- British English
- English dialectal terms
- Requests for quotations/Wiseman
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- Requests for quotations/Francis Bacon
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Danish/ap
- Danish lemmas
- Danish adjectives
- Danish adverbs
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch terms with unknown etymologies
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch adjectives
- Dutch terms with usage examples
- Dutch adverbs
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Serbo-Croatian terms derived from German
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian adjectives
- Serbo-Croatian colloquialisms
- Serbo-Croatian adverbs
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns