▪ I. rapping, vbl. n.1
(ˈræpɪŋ)
[f. rap v.1]
1. The action of striking or knocking sharply; = spirit-rapping. Also transf.
| c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 97 A rappyngge togedre of stones. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V 4 b, When he was with hasty rappyng quickely let in. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xii. 162 Stones..on the helms..Kept such a rapping, it amaz'd great Asius. 1710 Tatler No. 160 ¶1, I heard a great Rapping at my Door. 1848 M. Fox in A. Conan Doyle Hist. Spiritualism (1926) I. iv. 62 The children, who slept in the other bed in the room, heard the rapping, and tried to make similar sounds by snapping their fingers. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Worship Wks. (Bohn) II. 397 In creeds never was such levity; witness the..deliration of rappings. 1894 A. Lang Cock Lane 29 The facts of rappings, ghosts, clairvoyance..are very doubtful facts after all. 1923 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Dec. 853/3 He writes in short snappy sentences, the persistent rapping of which makes it very difficult for the reader to keep up his attention for long. 1954 J. F. Rinn Searchlight on Psychical Res. vi. 56 ‘What are the points of your coming exposé?’ asked Creelman. ‘First the rappings,’ Mrs. Kane smiled. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVII. 513/1 The spirits,..it is alleged, use different methods [of communication].., such as rappings, table tippings, [etc.]. |
2. a. Utterance (of an oath). † b. Perjury. Obs.
| 1611 Cotgr., Iurement,..a rapping out of an oath. 1754 Fielding Jonathan Wild i. xiii. (1840) 551 He was a pitiful fellow who would stick at a little rapping for his friend. |
c. colloq. (orig. U.S.). The action or practice of talking or chatting; conversation, gossip. spec. U.S. Blacks, repartee, banter. Cf. rap v.1 3 d.
| 1969 Observer 16 Feb. 40/6 Pendennis boogaloos, falls by cats into numbers, and lays down heavy outasight rapping. Translation: Pendennis arranges events, calls on people in the money, and produces a lot of fantastic gossip. 1969 T. Kochman in Trans-Action Feb. 27/1 While often used to mean ordinary conversation, rapping is distinctively a fluent and lively way of talking, always characterized by a high degree of personal style. Ibid. 27/2 Rapping between men and women often is competitive and leads to a lively repartee. 1972 M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha i. 60 After this failure of communication, our rapping dragged on like that of two old ladies. 1973 Black World Mar. 85 Jiving, bopping, rapping, signifying, sounding—all modes of Afro-American expression—seek to affirm the vitality of the Black American experience. 1977 Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 60/2 (Advt.), Multi⁓racial magazine features workable self-help articles, rapping, fiction. |
3. attrib., as rapping bar, a pointed iron bar used in founding for loosening patterns from moulds; rapping iron, an implement used in basketry to tap the rows of weaving into the desired position; rapping plate Founding, a metal plate attached to a pattern in order to prevent damage to the pattern when it is loosened from the mould.
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 277 Rapping bar. 1948 H. W. Baker Mod. Workshop Technol. i. iii. 60 For a wood pattern the rapping bar may be pointed and driven into the wood itself; or special rapping plates with suitable holes may be fixed to it. 1960 R. Lister Decorative Cast Ironwork in Gt. Brit. ii. 31 The rapping bar is tapped with a mallet to loosen the pattern. |
| 1924 C. Crampton Cane Work 12 Rapping iron to tap the rows of weaving to make the work quite level. 1979 Dryad Catal. 87/1 Canework tools..Rapping iron for levelling (or regulating) cane weaving. |
| 1885 Pattern Making xxii. 158 (heading) Rapping plates. 1894 W. J. Lineham Textbk. Mech. Engin. ii. 67 Rapping plates have become necessary in order to prevent injury to the pattern by the moulder. 1948 Rapping plate [see rapping bar above]. 1960 R. Lister Decorative Cast Ironwork in Gt. Brit. ii. 25 To further facilitate the withdrawal, metal rapping and lifting plates are available.., ready drilled and countersunk for screwing to the pattern, and tapped to receive the lifting screw. |
Add: [2.] d. Rhythmical speaking (often improvised and in rhyming sentences) to the accompaniment of a (prerecorded) sound track; a style of popular music characterized by this; = *rap n.1 5 c. orig. U.S.
| 1979 Village Voice (N.Y.) 31 Dec. 57/1 That collaboration would result in royal rapping as well as elegantly intimate harmonies. 1981 N.Y. Times 15 July c19/1 Miss Harry and Mr. Stein,..who have long been involved in funk rhythms, rapping and other..black music trends. 1984 Steward & Garratt Signed, Sealed & Delivered v. 100/2 In the USA, rapping, a sung-spoken style, is deep-rooted in black music. 1987 Daily Tel. 6 Aug. 10/7 Rapping is chanting in verse to a heavy beat with more than a touch of agit-prop. 1989 D. Clarke Penguin Encycl. Popular Mus. 959/1 When MCs added rapping over the music..it became rap, also called hip-hop. |
▪ II. † ˈrapping, vbl. n.2 Obs.—1
[f. rap v.2]
The practice of seizing or taking.
| 1541 Paynell Catiline i. 1 In rappynge and catchynge he was auaritious. |
▪ III. rapping, ppl. a.
(ˈræpɪŋ)
[f. rap v.1]
1. That raps or knocks.
| 1855 Smedley Occult Sciences 191 After all that has been written on the subject of the rapping spirits. 1933 N. Fodor Encycl. Psychic Sci. 321/2 Rudolf of Fulda, a chronicle dating from 858 a.d. speaks of communications with a rapping intelligence. |
2. Uncommonly big or striking. Now dial.
| 1658 Bramhall Consecr. Bps. vi. 146 Some others who fathered this rapping lie upon him. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) I. i. xvii. 100/1 He maketh a voluntary confession of three other rapping crimes. 1728 W. Smith Univ. Coll. 181 Next comes a rapping Lye. 1847–78 Halliwell, Rapping, large. Var. dial. |