knap

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /næp/
- Audio (Southern England) (file)
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)

(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.
- 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. , 3rd edition, London: William Rawley; rinted by J H for William Lee , →OCLC:
  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, →ISBN, page 10:
  "That will be sixpence," he said without looking up. She knapped her lips together and turned on her heel without another word.
(obsolete, UK, dialect) To bite; to bite off; to break short.
- 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, , London: Edowardi Whitchurche , →OCLC:
  Psalms xlvi. 9
  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."
To make a sound of snapping.
- 1676, Richard Wiseman, Severall Chirurgicall Treatises, London: E. Flesher and J. Macock, for R Royston , and B Took, , →OCLC:
  Press back the head of the Femur into its Acetabulum , and it will knap in

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

knapsack

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'.

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.
- 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Building”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
  you shall see many fine seats set upon a knap of ground
The crest of a hill
A small hill
- 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. , (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: Adam Islip, published 1635, →OCLC:
  the highest part and knap of the same Iland

Etymology 3

Verb

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

Alternative form of nap (“to nab or grab”)

References

John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

References

“knap”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Danish

Etymology 1

Probably from Middle Low German knap, otherwise related to it. Further cognate with German knapp, Swedish knapp, Dutch knap.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /knap/,
Rhymes: -ap

Adjective

knap

scant, scarce
brief, concise

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

Etymology 2

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

Noun

knap c (singular definite knappen, plural indefinite knapper)

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

Inflection

Declension of knap

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

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /knɑp/
Audio (file)

Etymology 1

Ca. 1500. A word originally found only in Dutch and Low German; compare Middle Low German knap, whence German knapp, Danish knap, Swedish knapp, all “scarce, scant”, also “tight-fitting, small” (of clothes). From the last, Dutch derived “attractive, pretty”, which was then further generalised; cf. semantically German schmücken (“to embellish", originally "to fit tightly”).

Further origin unknown. Perhaps comparable to Ancient Greek κνάπτω (knáptō, “to card wool”), κνέφαλλον (knéphallon, “flock, wool”), in the sense of "tight-fitting, shapely."

Adjective

knap (comparative knapper, superlative knapst)

attractive, handsome, pretty
Synonym: aantrekkelijk
impressive, decent, rather good or big
Synonym: netjes

Oh, dat is best knap.
Oh, that's pretty impressive.
smart, intelligent, gifted, clever
Synonyms: begaafd, slim
(archaic) lissom, agile, brisk, fresh
(archaic) tight-fitting, shapely
(archaic) tight (of a budget), scarce

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

Descendants

→ Caribbean Javanese: knap

Adverb

knap

quite, rather, pretty (reinforces what follows)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

knap

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

References

^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “knap2”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
^ 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