ˈtable-ˌrapping, n. (and a.)
The production of raps or knocking sounds on a table without apparent physical means; by spiritualists ascribed to the agency of departed spirits, and used as a supposed means of communication with them. Also as adj., and ˈtable-rapper, one who practises table-rapping.
| 1856 Spiritual Herald Apr. 73 The matter has been explained to us thus... Table-turning and table-rapping are designed to call attention to the existence and presence of super-human powers. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. II. 141 He made his communication by means of table-rapping. 1860 All Year Round No. 64. 328 His aunt, who almost made a profession of table-rapping, who kept a journal of her spiritual experiences. 1893 Harper's Mag. Feb. 377/1, I could not ring a bell when there was none to ring, as spirits do in table-rappers' closets. 1936 M. Franklin All that Swagger x. 89 Familiar association with bogus lords and parsons, soothsayers, table-rappers, medical quacks, [etc.]. 1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 55 The young statistician is devoted to number and to method, not table-rapping or wishful thinking. |