rap 
One raps an oath, another deals a curse; 
He never better how I'd ; this never worse. 
Quarles, Emblems, i. 10. 
TO rap out. (a) To throw out violently or suddenly in 
speech ; utter in a forcible or striking manner: as, to rap 
out an oath or a lie. 
He could roumllie rap mil so manic vgle othes. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 57. 
The first was a judge, who rapped out a great oath at 
his footman. Addison, Freeholder, No. 44. 
(6) To produc.or indicate by rapping sounds; impart by a 
series of significant raps: as, to rap out a communication 
or a signal : used specifically of the supposed transmis- 
sion of spiritual intelligence in this way through the in- 
strumentality of mediums. =Syn. 1. To thump, whack. 
II. intrans. If. To deal a heavy blow or 
heavy blows ; beat. 
The elementes gonne to rusche & rappe, 
And smct downc ehirches & templis with crak. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 20. 
2t. To fall with a stroke or blow; drop so as 
to strike. 
Now, by this time the tears were rapping down 
Upon her milk-white breast, aneth her gown. 
Rots, Helenore, p. 70. (Janrieson.) 
3. To strike a quick, sharp blow ; make a sound 
by knocking, as on a door: as, to nip for ad- 
mittance. 
Villain, I say, knock me at this gate, 
And rap me well. Shalt., T. of the S., 1. 2. 12. 
Whan she cam to the king's court. 
She rappit wi' a ring. 
Earl Richard (Child's Ballads, III. 397). 
Comes a dun in the morning and raps at my door. 
Shenstone, Poet and Dun. 
4. To take an oath ; swear ; especially, to 
swear falsely: compare to rap out (a), above. 
[Thieves' cant.] 
It was his constant maxim that he was a pitiful fellow 
who would stick at a little rappiny for his friend. 
Fielding, Jonathan Wild, i. 13. (Danes.) 
rap 1 (rap), u. [< ME. rap, rappe = Sw. Norw. 
rapp = Dan. ran, a rap, tap, smart blow; cf. 
rap 1 , v.~\ 1. A heavy or quick, smart blow; a 
" sharp or resounding knock ; concussion from 
striking. 
The right arme with a rappe reft fro the shuldnrs. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.X 1. 7680. 
And therewith (as in great anger) he clapped his fyste 
on the horde a great rappe. Uall, Edw. V. 
Bolus arriv'd, and gave a doubtful tap, 
Between a single and a double rap. 
Colman the Younger, Broad Grins, The Newcastle Apoth- 
[ecary. 
2. A sound produced by knocking, as at a door, 
or by any sharp concussion; specifically, in 
modern spiritualism, a ticking or knocking 
noise produced by no apparent physical means, 
and ascribed to the agency of disembodied 
spirits. 
We may first take the raps and the "astral bells." which 
Mr. Sinnett seems to regard as constituting important test 
phenomena. 
K. Hodijson, Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, III. 261. 
rap 2 (rap), r. t. : pret. and pp. rapped or rapt, 
ppr. rapping. [< ME. rappcn, < Sw. rappa, snatch, 
seize, carry off, = MHG. G. raffru, snatch ; dial. 
(LG.) ranpf n, snatch up, take up (> ult. E. raff). 
Cf. rape 1 and rape' 2 . The pp. rapped, rapt, be- 
came confused with rapt, < L. raptus, pp. of 
rapere, snatch, which is not connected with the 
Tent, word: see rapt 1 , rapt' 2 .} If. To snatch 
or hurry away; seize by violence; carry off; 
transport; ravish. 
Some shall be rapt and taken alive, as St. Paul saith. 
Latimer, 2d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1550. 
Think ye that . . . they will not pluck from you what- 
soever they can rap or reave ? 
Apostolic Benediction of Adrian VI., Nov. 25, 1522 
[(Foxe's Martyrs, II. 59). 
He ever hastens to the end, and so 
(As if he knew it) raps his hearer to 
The middle of his matter. 
B. Jonson, tr. of Horace's Art of Poetry. 
But when these people grew niggardly in their offerings, 
it [the room] was rapt from thence. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 160. 
Rapt in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds. 
Milton, P. L., ill. 522. 
2. To transport out of one's self; affect with 
ecstasy or rapture ; carry away ; absorb ; en- 
gross. 
What, dear sir, 
Thus raps you? Are you well? 
Shale., Cymbeline, !. 6. 51. 
I found thee weeping, and . . . 
Am rapt with joy to see my Marcia's tears. 
Addison, Cato, Iv. X. 
Rapt into future times, the bard begun. 
Pope, Messiah, 1. 7. 
To rap and rend (originally to rape and ren : see rape'2), 
to seize and strip ; fall on and plunder ; snatch by violence. 
4960 
All they riMilil ra^. nntl rt-mf, and pilfer, 
To scraps and ends of gold and silver. 
N. liiitler, Ilmlibras, II. ii. 789. 
Kn >in foe and from friend 
He 'd rap and he 'd rend, . . . 
That Holy Church might have more to spend. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 206. 
rap :! (rap), v. t. ; pret. and pp. rapped, ppr. rap- 
pin;/. [Also rape ; prob. due in part to rap 1 , but 
in part representing ME. repen, < AS. hrrpian, 
touch, treat, = OFries. reppa, touch, move, = 
MD. rcppen, move, = LG. reppeii, touch, move, 
> G. rappen, scrape, = Icel. lireppa, catch, 
obtain, = Sw. repa, scratch. Cf. ropc^.] To 
scratch. HaUitcell. [Prov. Eng.] 
rap 4 (rap), n. [Perhaps a particular use of 
rap 1 . There is nothing to connect the word 
with MHG. G. rappe, a coin so called: see 
' A counterfeit coin of bad metal which 
passed current in Ireland for a half penny in the 
reign of George I., before the issue of Wood's 
halfpence. Its intrinsic value wag half a farthing. 
Hence the phrases not worth a rap, to care not a rap, im- 
plying something of no value. 
It having been many years since copper halfpence or 
farthings were last coined in this Kingdom, they have 
been for some time very scarce, and many counterfeits 
passed about under the name of raps. 
Swift, Drapier's Letters, letter i. 
They [his pockets] was turned out afore, and the devil 
a rap 's left Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 76. 
I don't care a rap where I go. 
C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 201. 
Rap halfpenny, a rap. 
It is not of very great moment to me that I am now and 
then imposed on by a rap halfpenny. 
Bladcwood's Mag., XCVI. 392. 
rap 5 !, . A Middle English form of rope. 
rapt. A Middle English preterit of reap, 
iri/elif. 
rap 7 (rap), . [Origin obscure.] A lay or skein 
of yarn containing 120 yards. K. H. Knight. 
Rapaces (ra-pa'sez), n. pi. [NL., pi. of L. ra- 
par, rapacious: see rapacious.} 1. In mam- 
mal., the beasts of prey ; carnivorous quadru- 
peds; the Carnivora, now called Fei-fe. Also 
Rapacia. 2. In oriiith., the birds of prey; rapa- 
cious birds; the Accipitres or Raptores. 
Rapacia (ra-pa'shi-a), n. pi. [NL., neut. pi. of 
Ij.rapax: see Rapacen.~] Rapacious mammals; 
beasts of prey: synonymous with Rapaces, 1. 
rapacious (ra-pa'shus), a. [= F. rapace = Pr. 
rapats = Sp. rapaz = It. rapace, < L. rapax 
(rapac-), rapacious, < rapere, seize : see rape' 2 .'} 
1. Of a grasping habit or disposition; given 
to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of 
greed, or obtaining wrongfully or by extor- 
tion; predatory; extortionate: as, a rapacious 
usurer ; specifically, of animals, subsisting by 
capture of living prey ; raptorial ; predaceous : 
as, rapacious birds or fishes. 
What trench can intercept, what fort withstand 
The brutal soldier's rude rapacious hand. 
Rowe, tr. of Lucan's Pharsalia, vii. 
A rapacious man he [Warren Hastings] certainly was not. 
Had he been so, he would infallibly have returned to his 
country the richest subject in Europe. 
Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
2. Of a grasping nature or character; charac- 
terized by rapacity; immoderately exacting; 
extortionate: as, a rapacious disposition; ra- 
pacious demands. 
WeU may then thy Lord, appeased, 
Redeem thee quite from Death's rapacious claim. 
Milton, P. L., xi. 258. 
There are two sorts of avarice ; the one is but of a bas- 
tard kind, and that is the rapacious appetite of gain. 
Cowley, Avarice. 
= Syn. 1. Rapacious, Ravenous, Voracious. Rapacious, lit- 
erally disposed to seize, may note, as the others do not, a 
distinctive characteristic of certain classes of animals ; 
the tiger is a rapacious animal, but often not ravenous 
or voracious. Ravenous implies hunger of an extreme 
sort, shown in eagerness to eat. Voracious means that 
one eats or is disposed to eat a great deal, without refer- 
ence to the degree of hunger : a glutton is voracious. Sam- 
uel Johnson tended to be a voracious eater, because in his 
early life he had often gone hungry till he was ravenous. 
rapaciously (ra-pa'shus-li), adv. In a rapa- 
cious manner ; by rapine ; by violent seizure. 
rapaciousness (ra-pa'shus-nes), . The char- 
acter of being rapacious ; inclination to seize 
violently or unjustly. 
rapacity (ra-pas'i-ti), re. [< F. rapacite = Pr. 
rapacitat = Sp. rapacidad = Pg. rapacidade = 
It. rapacitd, < L. rapacita(t-)n, rapacity. < rnpar 
(rapac-), rapacious: see rajiacious.] The char- 
acter of being rapacious ; the exercise of a ra- 
pacious or predaceous disposition; the act or 
practice of seizing by force, as plunder or prey, 
or of obtaining by extortion or chicanery, as 
unjust gains: as, the rapacity of pirates, of 
usurers, or of wild beasts. 
rape 
Our wild profusion, the source of insatiable rn/mrili/. 
Bolintf broke, To Pope. 
In the East the rapacity of monarchs has sometimes 
gone to the extent of taking from cultivators so much of 
their produce as to have afterwards to return part for seed. 
H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., 443. 
rapadura (rap-a-do'ra), n. [Also ruppinliirn : 
< Sp. Pg. rapadura, shavings or scrapings, < 
rapar, shave, scrape, = F. rdper, OF. rasper, 
scrape : see rasp 1 , .] A coarse unclarified 
sugar, made in Mexico and some parts of South 
America, and cast in molds. 
raparee, See rapparee. 
Rapatea (ra-pa'te-a), n. [NL. (Aublet, 1775), 
from a native name in Guiana.] A genus of 
monocotyledonous plants, the type of the or- 
der Kapateaccit. It is characterized by an ovary with 
three cells and three ovules, six anthers each with a spi- 
ral appendage, and numerous flowers in a globose head 
with an involucre of two long leaf-like bracts dilated at 
the base, and each flower provided with many closely 
imbricated obtuse appressed bractlets. There are 6 or 6 
species, natives of Guiana and northern Brazil. They 
bear long and narrow radical leaves from a low or robust 
rootstock, and flowers on a leafless scape, each with three 
rigid and chaff-like erect sepals, and three broad and 
spreading petals united below into a hyaline tube. 
Rapateaceae (ra-pa-te-a'se-e), n. pi. [NL. 
(Koernicke, 1871 ), < Rapatea + -<#.] An or- 
der of monocotyledonous plants of the series 
Coronariex, typified by the genus Rapatea. it is 
characterized by regular flowers with three greenish se- 
pals and three petals, six stamens with long anthers open- 
ing by a pore, a three-celled ovary with few or solitary 
anatropous ovules, and a lenticular embryo in farinaceous 
albumen. It includes about 22 species, of 6 genera, once 
classed among the rushes, and now placed between them 
and the spiderworts. They are perennial herbs, natives 
of Brazil, Guiana, and Venezuela, and are mostly robust 
marsh-plants, with long radical tapering leaves, sessile 
or petioled, and flowers on a naked scape, commonly In 
dense involucrate heads resembling those of the Com- 
positfe. 
rape 1 ! (rap), v. i. [< ME. rapen, < Icel. Itrapa, 
fall, rush headlong, hurry, hasten, = Norw. 
rapa, slip, fall, = Dan. rappe, make haste; cf. 
MLG. reppen, hasten, hurry, G. ren. rappelii, 
hasten, hurry. Cf. rape 1 , a. and ., also rape" 2 , 
rap?, of which rape 1 is in part a doublet.] To 
make haste ; hasten ; hurry : often used reflex- 
ively. 
Pas fro my presens on payne of thi lytfe, 
And rape of [from] my rewme in a rad haste, 
Or thou shall lelly be lost and thou leng oghter. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 1898. 
" For I may noujt lette," quod that leode, and lyarde he 
bistrydeth, 
And raped hym to-Iherusalem-ward the rigte waye to ryde. 
Piers Plowman (B), xvii. 79. 
rape 1 ! (rap), n. [ME., < rape 1 , r.] Haste; pre- 
cipitancy; a precipitate course. 
Row forthe in a rape right to the banke, 
Tit vnto Troy, tary no lengur. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 5633. 
So oft a day I mote thy werke renewe, 
It to correct and eke to rubbe and scrape ; 
And al is thorgh thy necligence and rape. 
Chaucer, Scrivener, 1. 7. 
rape 1 ! (rap), a. [< ME. rape = D. rap, < Sw. 
Norw. rapp = Dan. rap, quick, brisk: see rape 1 , 
r.] Quick; hasty. 
Than byspak his brother, that rape was of rees. 
Tale of Oamelyn, 
[ME., < rape 1 , a.] 
101. 
Quickly ; 
rape 1 ! (rap), adv. 
hastily. 
I sey and swere hym ful rape. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 6516. 
rape 2 (rap), i>. ; pret. and pp. raped, ppr. raping. 
[< ME. rapen (= MD. rapen, raepen, D. rapen, 
gather, = MLG. LG. rapen, snatch, seize, = 
Norw. rapa, tear off), a var. of rappen, seize: 
see raifi. This verb has been partly confused 
with L. rapere, seize, whence ult. E. rapid, 
rapine, rapacious, rapt 2 , etc. : see rap 2 , rapt 1 , 
rapt' 2 , etc.] I. intrana. 1+. To seize and carry 
off; snatch up; seize; steal. 
Ravenows fiches han sum mesure ; whanne the! hungren 
thei rapyn; whanne thei ben ful they sparyn. 
WimbcUon's Sermon, 1388, MS. Hatton 57,p. 16. (Halliimll.) 
2. To commit the crime of rape. 
There 's nothing new, Menippus ; as before, 
They rape, extort, forswear. 
Heytvood, Hierarchy of Angels (1635X p. 349. (Latham.) 
II. trans. 1. To carry off violently; hence, 
figuratively, to enrapture; ravish. 
To rape the fields with touches of her string. 
Drayton, Eclogues, v. 
My son, I hope, hath met within my threshold 
None of these household precedents, which are strong, 
And swift to rape youth to their precipice. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, ii. 3. 
2. To commit rape upon ; ravish To rape and 
rent, to seize and plunder. Compare to rap and rend, 
under rap2. 
