Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
RAP, v., n.1 Also ¶wrap. Sc. usages:
I. v. 1. tr. To cause to strike sharply, to use for rapping, make a rapping action or noise with (I. and n.Sc., Ags., Per., Kcb. 1967); to let off (a gun) with a bang.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxvi.:
The pistols and the carabines of the troopers, that rappit aff the tane after the tother as fast as hail.Abd. 1867 W. Anderson Rhymes 6:
He rappit the knockers — he rang a' the bells.
2. tr. and intr. To propel with violence, to thump, dash, knock, strike or fall with a sharp thud (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Kcb. 1967).Peb. 1715 A. Pennecuik Poems (1815) 391:
Then all the taylors raise and red him, And wrapped Truth out o'er the trap.Abd. 1812 Bards Bon-Accord (Walker 1887) 602:
Nor fancy it brave to rap heids wi' a stane, An' think to come aff wi' the winnin' o't.Fif. 1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair 82:
Till, half upraised, they to their forehead's wrong Go with a buffet rapping down again.m.Sc. 1838 A. Rodger Poems 46:
And ilk thing against whilk my head I micht rap, Ye help me to shun them a', Colin Dulap.
3. Of drops of liquid: to drop, fall rapidly, esp. used of tear-drops (I.Sc. 1967), to patter.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 75:
Now by this time the tears came rappin' down Upon her milk-white skin aneth her gown.Gsw. 1807 J. Chirrey Misc. Poetry 123:
Thick happen, an' rappen, The sweat ran o'er my chin.Sc. 1826 Jock of Hazelgreen in Child Ballads (1894) V. 161:
But ay the tears they rappit doun, Crying, O Jock o Hazelgreen!Sc. 1834 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) IV. 179:
You're greetin too! The tears rap-rap-rappin doun your nose like hailstanes.
4. intr. To make a rapping or banging noise (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags. 1967).Abd. 1873 J. Ogg Willie Waly 108:
At nicht the doors rap, an' the windows flap, flap.
5. Phrs. (1) hap weel, rap weel, whatever may be the outcome, come what may (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 254). The exact explanation of the phr. is uncertain and the form may be corrupt; (2) to rap aff, “to do expeditiously”, to carry out speedily (Lth. 1808 Jam.); to rattle off, repeat, recite (Sh. 1907); (3) to rap to, to close with a bang, slam (Sh. 1967); (4) to rap up, to knock up, to rouse someone by knocking at the door (Sh., Cai., Kcb. 1967); (5) to rap upon, to collide with, bump against.(1) Rxb. 1806 J. Hogg Poems 91:
Whilk makes me half and mair afraid . . . But hap weel, rap weel, I will send it.Rxb. 1825 Jam.:
If one be warned against any course, if determined to take it, the answer usually given is, “I carena; I'll do it, hap weel, rap weel.”Fif. 1862 St Andrews Gazette (22 Aug.):
It's nae use blinkin' the fact . . . an' hap weel, rap weel, the nations o' Europe needna heck muckle langer aboot it.(3) Mry. 1806 J. Cock Simple Strains 107:
Wi' grite ado, I gat him forth, And rappit to the door.(4) Lth. 1885 J. Strathesk More Bits 97:
They rappit him up and demanded anither cheerer.Sc. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar xvi.:
I must e'en pocket my pride and rap up the Secretar.(5) Lnk. 1858 G. Roy Generalship iv.:
As I stept across the street I rapped upon a woman who was intently gazing up at our window.
6. Deriv. rapper, the tongue of a bell; the hammer of a clock (Sc. 1911 S.D.D. Suppl.); a kind of drill used by sculptors (Kcb. 1967).
II. n. An instant, a moment. Phr. in a rap, with a-, immediately (Cai. 1904 E.D.D.). Gen.(exc. s.)Sc.Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis s.v. Swak:
We say “I'll be with ye with a rap”, and “with a clap” and (n.Sc.) “in a weaving.”Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 125:
While honest Jean brang forward in a rap Green horn cutties rattling in her lap.Rnf. 1813 E. Picken Poems II. 81:
In a rap . . . he gat a scrap, And wrate the order.Peb. 1817 R. D. C. Brown Lintoun Green 33:
The cottar and his wife came out, Too, furious, in a rap.Lth. 1882 P. McNeill Preston 112:
Ebb wasna drooned, but drookit, He sober'd in a rap.
