Rapped

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Struck or tapped a surface with a quick, sharp noise ; spoke or performed rhymes rhythmically and rapidly, often in music
2. Made a short, sharp knocking sound by hitting something lightly ; delivered spoken words in a rhythmic, rhyming style typical of rap music
3. Produced a brief, percussive sound by hitting an object ; expressed ideas or lyrics in a rhythmic, rhymed manner as part of a musical performance

Etymology: The verb "rapped" is simply the past tense of "rap," and the sense of tapping or striking comes first. The most surprising thread in the history is the Scandinavian connection: Norwegian "rapp," Swedish "rapp," and Danish "rap" all meant a blow, a strike, or a sharp tap, and English likely picked up the word from that Norse-influenced vocabulary. Older Germanic relatives point the same way, with German "rappeln" meaning to rattle and Swedish "rappa" meaning to beat. The musical sense of rapping is a much later development that grew out of the original idea of a quick, sharp rhythmic blow. Speech delivered in fast, rhythmic beats came to be called rapping, so the percussive meaning and the musical one share a single core: quick, hard, rhythmic strikes, whether against wood or against a beat.

Synonyms: rapped, knocked, tapped