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nap

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Nap is a brief period of sleep, or a fabric surface that is made of short hairs or fibers.

(noun)

An example of a nap is a 20 minute sleep period in the middle of the day.
An example of nap is lamb's wool.

Nap is defined as to sleep for a brief period of time, usually during the day.

(verb)

An example of nap is to sleep for 30 minutes in the middle of the day.

See nap in Webster's New World College Dictionary

intransitive verb napped, napping

to doze or sleep lightly for a short time
to be careless or unprepared

Origin: ME nappen < OE hnappian, akin to OHG hnaffezan

noun

a brief, light sleep; doze

noun

the downy or hairy surface of cloth formed by short hairs or fibers, esp. when artificially raised by brushing, etc.; pile
any such downy surface, as that raised on the flesh side of leather

Origin: ME noppe < or akin to MDu & MLowG noppe (Ger & Dan hoppe) < IE *kenebh- < base *ken-, to scratch, rub > Ger nut, rabbet, Gr knaptein, to scratch, tear apart

transitive verb napped, napping

to raise a nap on (fabric or leather), as by brushing

Related Forms:

napless adjective

noun

napoleon (senses & )

to seize and carry away; steal: often in nonce combinations: dognap, petnap

Origin: < (kid)nap

See nap in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A brief sleep, often during the day.

intransitive verb napped 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.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from nappen, to doze

Origin: , from Old English hnappian

Related Forms:

napˈper noun

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.

noun

A soft or fuzzy surface on fabric or leather.

transitive verb napped napped, nap·ping, naps

To form or raise a soft or fuzzy surface on (fabric or leather).

Origin:

Origin: Alteration (perhaps influenced by obsolete French nape, tablecloth)

Origin: of Middle English noppe

Origin: , from Middle Dutch

transitive verb napped 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).

Origin:

Origin: French napper

Origin: , from nappe, cover; see nappe

noun

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

Origin:

Origin: Short for napoleon

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