▪ I. rapper
(ˈræpə(r))
[f. rap v.1 + -er1.]
1. a. One who raps or knocks; a spirit-rapper.
| 1755 in Johnson. 1857 P. Cartwright Autobiogr. xix. 276 There is a dark, motley crowd of..spiritual rappers, so called. |
† b. slang. One who tells a downright lie; a professional perjurer. Cf. sense 3 a and rapping vbl. n.1 2 b. Obs.
| 1840 in Fielding Jonathan Wild (new ed.) p. lxii, The rapper, I think (as the cant phrase has it), is the most necessary man for your purpose. |
c. U.S. slang. A complainant, plaintiff; a prosecutor. Cf. rap v.1 1 c.
| 1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 252/1 Rapper, prosecutor; complainant. 1910 New England Mag. July 587 A complaint or charge of crime is a ‘rap’ and the complainant is the ‘rapper’. 1926 Clues Nov. 158/2 Lam up to the pagey and see the rapper. 1935 Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. XXX. 364 Rapper, the complainant in the case. 1955 D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 108 A rapper is a mark who prefers charges against a pickpocket; sometimes he can be bought off with a return of his money. ‘If the law won't take, the next thing is to try the rapper.’ |
d. An itinerant purchaser of antiques; esp. one who buys valuable objects cheaply from credulous householders. Cf. knocker 2 e.
| 1914 H. A. Vachell Quinneys' x. 146 Gossip had it that he had begun life as a ‘rapper’. 1928 Daily Express 29 Feb. 14 The rapper frequently adopts the Aladdin method of offering new lamps for old, undertaking, for example, to give the innocent owner of a little old Queen Anne bureau a brand-new chest of drawers and a cash sum in exchange. |
e. U.S. slang. A talker; a chatterer. Cf. rap v.1 3 d.
| 1971 Time 22 Feb. 38 Boulez clearly hopes there will be as many rappers as listeners. 1972 C. Weston Poor, Poor Ophelia iii. 18 Let's you and me talk like crazy. You look like a rapper, and I feel like rapping. 1973 C. Milner Black Players i. 8 He is recognized as among the best talkers or ‘rappers’ in the hustling world. |
2. Anything used for rapping; spec. † a. A door-knocker. Obs. b. A rattle or clapper. rare. c. Coal-mining (see quot. 1851).
| 1640 Outlandish Proverbs §916 An old mans staffe is the rapper of deaths doore. 1767 Sterne Tr. Shandy IX. xvi, He stood with the rapper of the door suspended for a full minute in his hand. 1810 Splendid Follies I. 16 Cavendish Square, where the rapper first roused her from the deepest..ruminations. 1834 Southey Doctor l. (1862) 116 He was not disturbed..by the watchmen's rappers, or clap-sticks. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 41 Rapper.—A lever, placed at the top of a shaft or inclined plane,..to give signals, when every thing is ready at the bottom for drawing away. 1869 Pall Mall G. 8 Oct. 8 The connection to each rapper and battery was to be made by means of a small button. |
3. a. An arrant lie; a downright falsehood. Now only dial.
| 1611 Cotgr., Bourdes, fibs, rappers, lyes. 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 38 (1713) I. 252 Care has told as many Rappers for the Dissenters as he thinks good. a 1734 North Exam. ii. v. §139 (1740) 402 What a Rapper is it then to say further [etc.]. 1890 in Gloucestersh. Gloss. |
b. A great oath. Now only dial.
| 1678 Dryden Limberham iv. i, If you can swear such Rappers too, there's hope of you. a 1734 North Lives (1826) III. 225 When he was very angry..he was apt to let go a rapper or two. 1890 in Gloucestersh. Gloss. |
† 4. Something remarkably good or large. Obs. (Cf. rapping ppl. a. 2.)
| 1653 Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) II. 34 Tell my deerest Lord Norwich he shall have a rapper [of a letter] next week. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 203 There remains but one Flower more that I have a mind to; but that indeed is a Rapper. 'Tis a Flower of the Sun. |
Add: [1.] f. A person who performs or is involved in rap music. Cf. *rap n.1 5 c. orig. U.S.
| 1979 Billboard 3 Nov. 64/3 The Philadelphia-based rapper, Kurtis Blow, will soon record a ‘Christmas Rapping’ 12-inch record ‘with holiday appeal’. 1982 Washington Post 31 Dec. d7/4 All the rappers really talked about was themselves. 1984 Wall St. Jrnl. 4 Dec. 16/1 Many raps still brag about the rapper's financial success and superior cool but others talk about such topics as friends and basketball. 1986 Sunday Express Mag. 28 Dec. 27/3 The best records were by oldies Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel, with young black New York rappers Run DMC. 1988 Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 3 July (Suppl.) 12/3 Then the inevitable happened. Like flared jeans and yo yos, rappers became an endangered species. |
▪ II. rapper, -ier
dial. forms of rapier.