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rap

/ɹæp/noun, verb

rap is spelled R-A-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “rap vs wrap” about 170 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, rap means “A sharp blow with something hard” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rap is raps.

How many letters and syllables are in rap?

Letters3: R-A-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,878th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is rap?

Rap appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce rap?

  • /ɹæp/

Rap has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wrap.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with rap

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

rap vs wrap170 G

Sounds like: wrap (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: wrap.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with rap?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as rap.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: par, arp.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of rap

  • raps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • rapping participle, present
  • rapped participle, past
  • rapt participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does rap mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A sharp blow with something hard.

  2. 2

    slangThe blame for something, a reprimand, censure, or a legal sentence to serve in prison

    You can't act irresponsibly and then expect me to take the rap.

  3. 3

    informalA casual talk.

  4. 4

    Rap music.

    They like listening to rap.

  5. 5

    A song, verse, or instance of singing in the style of rap music.

  6. 6

    AustraliainformalAn appraisal.

    a good/great/bad rap

  7. 7

    AustraliainformalA positive appraisal; a recommendation.

    He gave the novel quite a rap.

  8. 8

    A lea or skein of yarn that forms the standard length taken from the reel, 80 yards of worsted or 120 yards of silk or cotton.

  9. 9

    Any of the tokens that passed current for a halfpenny in Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century; any coin of trifling value.

  10. 10

    A whit; a jot.

    I don't care a rap.

  11. 11

    USAcronym of record of arrest and prosecution.

  12. 12

    slangA charge, whether or not it results in a conviction.

verb

  1. 1

    To strike something sharply with one's knuckles; knock.

  2. 2

    datedTo strike with a quick blow; to knock on.

  3. 3

    To free (a pattern) in a mould by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.

  4. 4

    To utter quickly and sharply.

    The sergeant rapped out a word of command to the troops.

  5. 5

    To speak (lyrics) in the style of rap music.

    He started to rap after listening to Tupac.

  6. 6

    informalTo talk casually; to engage in conversation.

  7. 7

    To seize and carry off.

  8. 8

    To transport out of oneself; to affect with rapture.

  9. 9

    to rappel

noun

as RAP
  1. 1

    Initialism of recognized air picture.

  2. 2

    UKInitialism of retirement annuity plan.

  3. 3

    USAcronym of record of arrest and prosecution.

  4. 4

    Initialism of reclaimed asphalt pavement.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Rap in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Portugueseculpa (blame)
Frenchrapper (to speak lyrics in the style of rap music)
Germanrappen (to speak lyrics in the style of rap music)
Spanishrapear (to speak lyrics in the style of rap music)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does rap come from?

From Middle English rap, rappe, of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian rapp (“a blow, strike, lash”), Swedish rapp (“a blow, lash, crack”), Danish rap (“a tap, smart, blow”). Compare Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat”). More at rape.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after rap