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strap

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "strap", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "strap" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "strap" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

strap is aEnglishnoun. It means: A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like. Pronounced /stɹæp/. It ranks #9,825 in English word frequency. Often confused with swap and sura.

Key facts for strap
PropertyValue
Headwordstrap
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stɹæp/
Letters5
Frequency rank#9,825
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of strap in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for strap is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stɹæp/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,825 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for strap, with forms such as "srtap", "sstrap", and "starp". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "swap", "sura", "strip", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From a variant of earlier strope (“loop on a harness”), from Middle English strope, stroppe, from Late Old English strop, stropp (“a band, thong, strap; oar-thong”) and Old French estrope (“strap, loop on a harness”), both from Latin stroppus, struppus (“st… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is strap, spelled S-T-R-A-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like.
  2. 2
    A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like.
  3. 3
    A strip of thick leather used in flogging.
  4. 4
    Something made of such a strip, or of a part of one, or a combination of two or more for a particular use.
  5. 5
    A piece of leather, or strip of wood covered with a suitable material, used to hone the sharpened edge of a razor; a strop.
  6. 6
    A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass.
  7. 7
    A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass.
  8. 8
    The flat part of the corolla in ligulate florets, as those of the white circle in the daisy.
  9. 9
    The leaf, exclusive of its sheath, in some grasses.
  10. 10
    A gun, normally a personal firearm such as a pistol or machine pistol.
  11. 11
    Credit offered to a customer, especially for alcoholic drink.
  12. 12
    A strap-on.
  13. 13
    Synonym of strapline.
  14. 14
    A championship belt, or by extension, the title.
  15. 15
    An investment strategy involving simultaneous trade with one put and two call options on the same security at the same strike price, similar to but more bullish than a straddle.

Etymology

From a variant of earlier strope (“loop on a harness”), from Middle English strope, stroppe, from Late Old English strop, stropp (“a band, thong, strap; oar-thong”) and Old French estrope (“strap, loop on a harness”), both from Latin stroppus, struppus (“strap”), from Ancient Greek στρόφος (stróphos, “rope”) (compare strophe), from στρέφω (stréphō, “to twist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strebʰ- (compare Proto-West Germanic *stroppōn (“to twist, writhe”)). Cognate with Scots strap, strop (“strap, band, thong”), Dutch strop (“noose, strop, loop”), Low German Strop (“strap”), German Struppe, Strüppe, Strippe (“string, cord”), Danish strop (“strap”), Swedish stropp (“strap, loop”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: srtap,sstrap,starp,strapp,strpa,strrap,sttrap,tsrap

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for strap

Misspelling Variants of "strap"

srtap5sstrap6starp5strapp6strpa5strrap6sttrap6tsrap5
Misspelling Variants of "strap"

Frequency rank: #9,825 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "strap"?
"strap" is spelled S-T-R-A-P. The IPA pronunciation is /stɹæp/.
What does "strap" mean?
As a noun, "strap" means: A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like.
What words are commonly confused with "strap"?
"strap" is commonly confused with "swap", "sura", "strip". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "strap"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "strap" is /stɹæp/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "strap"?
From a variant of earlier strope (“loop on a harness”), from Middle English strope, stroppe, from Late Old English strop, stropp (“a band, thong, strap; oar-thong”) and Old French estrope (“strap, loop on a harness”), both from Latin stroppus, str... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.