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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

reap.

To cut (for example a grain) with a sickle, scythe, or reaping machine.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈɹiːp/[ˈɹɪi̯p]
  1. To cut (for example a grain) with a sickle, scythe, or reaping machine.

    transitive
  2. To gather (e.g. a harvest) by cutting.

    transitive
  3. To obtain or receive as a reward, in a good or a bad sense.

    transitive
    to reap a benefit from exertions
  4. To terminate a child process that has previously exited, thereby removing it from the process table.

    transitive
    Until a child process is reaped, it may be listed in the process table as a zombie or defunct process.
  5. To deprive of the beard; to shave.

    obsolete · transitive
  6. To rape.

    euphemistic · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English repen, from Old English rēopan, rēpan, variants of Old English rīpan (“to reap”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpan, from Proto-Germanic *rīpaną (compare West Frisian repe, Norwegian ripa (“to score, scratch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”).

noun/ˈɹiːp/[ˈɹɪi̯p]
  1. A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English repen, from Old English rēopan, rēpan, variants of Old English rīpan (“to reap”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpan, from Proto-Germanic *rīpaną (compare West Frisian repe, Norwegian ripa (“to score, scratch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.