Knaps

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To fold or bend something sharply; to make a noise by snapping fingers or a similar action; to dismiss or disregard something swiftly and casually
2. Performing a sharp bending motion; creating a sound by quickly closing two surfaces; ignoring or brushing aside a matter in a hasty manner
3. Engaging in a quick and forceful fold; producing a crisp noise with a flick or snap; treating something with indifference or neglect in a rapid manner

Etymology: Knap is a verb of uncertain origin, and the most telling clue is that its sounds seem to have been there before its meanings. Late Middle English "knappen" meant to strike something, and it is probably related to Middle Dutch "knappen" and "cnappen," which meant to break something with a sharp sound, or to crackle. Both are thought to be onomatopoeic, imitating the snap itself rather than descending from a clear ancestor. The same sound-driven picture shows up in the noun, which first appeared as a sharp blow or strike. Its relatives in Danish "knep" and Swedish "knäpp" both mean a flick or rap, which points to a shared family of quick, clipped noises. Those meanings sit alongside a separate, older word, "knap," meaning a small knob or summit, which came from Old English "cnæp." The two have probably been mixed up over time, but they are not the same word. The verb's sense of brushing a matter aside has the same snap at its core: a quick, decisive dismissal, much like a sharp click shutting a subject.