nap definition | Dictionary.com

nap

1 [nap]

verb, napped, nap⋅ping, noun

–verb (used without object)

1.	to sleep for a short time; doze.

2.	to be off one's guard: The question caught him napping.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to sleep or doze through (a period of time, an activity, etc.) (usually fol. by away): I napped the afternoon away. He naps away most of his classes.

–noun

4.	a brief period of sleep, esp. one taken during daytime: Has the baby had her nap?

Origin:
bef. 900; ME nappen (v.), nap (n.), OE hnappian to sleep; c. MHG napfen

Synonyms:
1. nod, rest, catnap.

nap

2 [nap]

noun, verb, napped, nap⋅ping.

–noun

1.	the short fuzzy ends of fibers on the surface of cloth, drawn up in napping.

2.	any downy coating, as on plants.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to raise a nap on.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME noppe, OE -hnoppa (as in wullknoppa, mistake for *wullhnoppa tuft of wool), c. MD, MLG noppe; akin to OE hnoppian to pluck

Related forms:

napless, adjective

nap⋅less⋅ness, noun

nap

3 [nap]

–noun

napoleon (defs. 2, 3).

Origin:
shortened form

-nap

a combining form extracted from kidnap, with the general sense “abduct or steal in order to collect a ransom”: artnap; petnap; starnap.

Laj⋅oi⋅e

[lash-uh-wey]

–noun

Napoleon (“Nap”

), 1875–1959, U.S. baseball player.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To nap

nap¹ (nāp)

n. A brief sleep, often during the day.
intr.v. napped, nap·ping, naps

To sleep for a brief period, often during the day; doze.
To be unaware of imminent danger or trouble; be off guard: The civil unrest caught the police napping.

[Middle English, from nappen, to doze, from Old English hnappian.]
nap'per n.

Word History: The famous verse 4 of Psalm 121, rendered in the King James Version as "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," is rendered in a Middle English translation as "Loo, ha shal not nappen ne slepen that kepeth ireal." The word nappen is indeed the Middle English ancestor of our word nap. Lest it be thought undignified to say that God could nap, it must be realized that our word nap was at one time not associated only with the younger and older members of society nor simply with short periods of rest. The ancestors of our word, Old English hnappian and its descendant, Middle English nappen, could both refer to prolonged periods of sleep as well as short ones and also, as in the quotation from Psalm 121, to sleepiness. But these senses have been lost. Since the word has become less dignified, we would not find nap used in a modern translation of Psalm 121.

nap² (nāp)

n. A soft or fuzzy surface on fabric or leather.
tr.v. napped, nap·ping, naps
To form or raise a soft or fuzzy surface on (fabric or leather).

[Alteration (perhaps influenced by obsolete French nape, tablecloth) of Middle English noppe, from Middle Dutch.]

nap³ (nāp)

tr.v. napped, nap·ping, naps
To pour or put a sauce or gravy over (a cooked dish): "a stuffed veal chop napped with an elegant Port sauce" (Jay Jacobs).

[French napper, from nappe, cover; see nappe.]

nap⁴ (nāp)

1. A card game that resembles whist.
2. The highest bid in this game, announcing the intention to win five tricks, the maximum number in a hand. Also called napoleon.
See napoleon.

[Short for napoleon.]

na·po·le·on (nə-pō'lē-ən, -pōl'yən)

A rectangular piece of pastry made with crisp, flaky layers filled with custard cream.
A 20-franc gold coin formerly used in France. Also called nap⁴.
Games See nap⁴.

[After Napoleon I.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Nap

Nap\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Napped; p. pr. & vb. n. Napping.] [OE. nappen, AS. hn[ae]ppian to take a nap, to slumber; cf. AS. hnipian to bend one's self, Icel. hnipna, hn[=i]pa, to droop.]

1. To have a short sleep; to be drowsy; to doze. --Chaucer.

2. To be in a careless, secure state. --Wyclif.

I took thee napping, unprepared. --Hudibras.

Nap

Nap\, n. A short sleep; a doze; a siesta. --Cowper.

Nap

Nap\, n. [OE. noppe, AS. hnoppa; akin to D. nop, Dan. noppe, LG. nobbe.]

1. Woolly or villous surface of felt, cloth, plants, etc.; an external covering of down, of short fine hairs or fibers forming part of the substance of anything, and lying smoothly in one direction; the pile; -- as, the nap of cotton flannel or of broadcloth.

2. pl. The loops which are cut to make the pile, in velvet. --Knight.

Nap

Nap\, v. t. To raise, or put, a nap on.

Nap

Nap\, n. Same as Napoleon, 1, below.

Language Translation for : nap

Spanish: siesta,

German: das Nickerchen,

Japanese: うたたね

More Translations »

nap (n.)

"downy surface of cloth," 1440, from M.Du. or M.L.G. noppe "nap, tuft of wool," probably introduced by Flem. cloth-workers. Cognate with O.E. hnappian "to pluck," ahneopan "pluck off," O.Swed. niupa "to pinch," Goth. dis-hniupan "to tear."

nap (v.)

O.E. hnappian "to doze, sleep lightly," of unknown origin, apparently related to O.H.G. hnaffezan. The noun is first attested c.1300.

NAP

Napoli-Capodichino Airport
network access point
neutrophil activating protein

nap

gambling card game played throughout northern Europe under various names and guises. It reached England in the 1880s. Its title may commemorate the deposed Napoleon III.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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