What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Rap vs Trap - What's the difference?

rap | trap |

In intransitive terms the difference between rap and trap

is that rap is to strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock while trap is to leave suddenly, to flee.

As an acronym RAP

is Recognized Air Picture.

rap

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) rap, rappe, of (etyl) origin, related to (etyl) . More at (l).

Noun

(wikipedia rap)
  • (countable) A sharp blow with something hard.
  • The teacher gave the wayward pupil a rap across the knuckles with her ruler.
  • * 1900 , , The House Behind the Cedars , Chapter II,
  • He walked softly up the sanded path, tiptoed up the steps and across the piazza, and rapped at the front door, not too loudly, lest this too might attract the attention of the man across the street. There was no response to his rap . He put his ear to the door and heard voices within, and the muffled sound of footsteps. After a moment he rapped again, a little louder than before.
  • (uncountable) Blame (for something).
  • You can't act irresponsibly and then expect me to take the rap .
  • (informal) A casual talk
  • (uncountable) Rap music.
  • A song, verse, or instance of singing in the style of rap music.
  • Synonyms
    * (blame) fall
    Derived terms
    * beat the rap * bum rap * rap music * rap song * take the rap

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) rappen, of (etyl) origin, related to (etyl) .

    Verb

    (rapp)
  • To strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock.
  • * 1845 , (Edgar Allan Poe), "":
  • Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, ¶ Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, ¶ While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, ¶ As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. ¶ "'Tis some visitor", I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door — ¶ Only this, and nothing more."
  • * 1900 , , The House Behind the Cedars , Chapter II,
  • He walked softly up the sanded path, tiptoed up the steps and across the piazza, and rapped' at the front door, not too loudly, lest this too might attract the attention of the man across the street. There was no response to his rap. He put his ear to the door and heard voices within, and the muffled sound of footsteps. After a moment he ' rapped again, a little louder than before.
  • (dated) To strike with a quick blow; to knock on.
  • * Prior
  • With one great peal they rap the door.
  • (metalworking) To free (a pattern) in a mould by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.
  • (ambitransitive) To speak (lyrics) in the style of rap music.
  • ''He started to rap after listening to the Beastie Boys
    He rapped a song to his girlfriend.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=April 19 , author=Josh Halliday , title=Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=But the purported rise in violent videos online has led some MPs to campaign for courts to have more power to remove or block material on YouTube. The Labour MP Heidi Alexander said she was appalled after a constituent was robbed at knifepoint, and the attackers could be found brandishing weapons and rapping about gang violence online.}}
  • (informal) To talk casually.
  • Derived terms
    * rap on * rapper

    See also

    * emcee * hip-hop

    Etymology 3

    Uncertain.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A lay or skein containing 120 yards of yarn.
  • (Knight)

    Etymology 4

    Perhaps contracted from rapparee.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of the tokens that passed current for a halfpenny in Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century; any coin of trifling value.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Many counterfeits passed about under the name of raps .
  • * Mrs. Alexander
  • Tie it [her money] up so tight that you can't touch a rap , save with her consent.
  • A whit; a jot.
  • I don't care a rap .
    That's not worth a rap .

    Anagrams

    * ----

    trap

    English

    (wikipedia trap)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) (m), from (etyl) and possibly Albanian (m) "raft, channel, path". Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". (etyl) are ultimately borrowings from (etyl).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body.
  • I put down some traps in my apartment to try and deal with the mouse problem.
  • A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.
  • Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny.
  • * Shakespeare
  • God and your majesty / Protect mine innocence, or I fall into / The trap is laid for me!
  • A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor.
  • Close the trap , would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck.
  • A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball; the game of trapball itself.
  • Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
  • They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap .
  • A bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents the escape of noxious gases, but permits the flow of liquids.
  • A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for want of an outlet.
  • (historical) A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.
  • * 1913 , D.H. Lawrence,
  • The two women looked down the alley. At the end of the Bottoms a man stood in a sort of old-fashioned trap , bending over bundles of cream-coloured stuff; while a cluster of women held up their arms to him, some with bundles.
  • * 1919 ,
  • I had told them they could have my trap to take them as far as the road went, because after that they had a long walk.
  • *
  • At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap , came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.
  • (slang) A person's mouth.
  • Keep your trap shut .
  • (in the plural) belongings
  • * 1870 , , Running for Governor ,
  • ...his cabin-mates in Montana losing small valuables from time to time, until at last, these things having been invariably found on Mr. Twain's person or in his "trunk" (newspaper he rolled his traps in)...
  • (slang) cubicle (in a public toilet)
  • I've just laid a cable in trap 2 so I'd give it 5 minutes if I were you.
  • (sports) Short for trapshooting.
  • (computing) An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.
  • (Australia, slang, historical) A mining license inspector during the Australian gold rush.
  • * 1996 , Judith Kapferer, Being All Equal: Identity, Difference and Australian Cultural Practice , page 84,
  • The miners? grievances centred on the issue of the compulsory purchase of miners? licences and the harassment of raids by the licensing police, the ‘traps ,’ in search of unlicensed miners.
  • * 2006 , Helen Calvert, Jenny Herbst, Ross Smith, Australia and the World: Thinking Historically , page 55,
  • Diggers were angered by frequent licence inspections and harassment by ‘the traps ’ (the goldfield police).
  • (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular English) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
  • (slang, informal, pejorative) A person with male genitalia who can be mistaken for a female; a convincing transvestite or transwoman.
  • * '>citation
  • * '>citation
  • * '>citation
  • A kind of movable stepladder.
  • (Knight)
    Synonyms
    * snare
    Derived terms
    * activity trap * beartrap/bear trap * betrap * booby trap * bus trap * firetrap * fish-trap * honey trap * mantrap * mousetrap * offside trap * optical trap * radar trap * rattletrap * speed trap * tourist trap * trapdoor * (l)

    Verb

    (trapp)
  • To physically , to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Stephen P. Lownie], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/david-m-pelz David M. Pelz
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Stents to Prevent Stroke , passage=As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.}}
  • To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
  • * Dryden
  • I trapped the foe.
  • To provide with a trap.
  • To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; as, to trap for beaver.
  • To leave suddenly, to flee.
  • (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular English) (slang) To sell narcotics, especially in a public area.
  • (computing) To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
  • Etymology 2

    (Trap rock) From (etyl) trapp, from .

    Noun

    (-)
  • A dark coloured igneous rock, now used to designate any non-volcanic, non-granitic igneous rock; trap rock.
  • Derived terms
    * trappean * trappous * trappy

    Etymology 3

    Akin to (etyl) .

    Verb

    (trapp)
  • To dress with ornaments; to adorn; said especially of horses.
  • * Spenser
  • to deck his hearse, and trap his tomb-black steed
  • * Tennyson
  • There she found her palfrey trapped / In purple blazoned with armorial gold.

    Etymology 4

    Shortening.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang, bodybuilding) trapezius (muscle)
  • Anagrams

    * part * prat * rapt * tarp ----