"rap someone's knuckles" meaning in English

See rap someone's knuckles in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: raps someone's knuckles [present, singular, third-person], rapping someone's knuckles [participle, present], rapped someone's knuckles [participle, past], rapped someone's knuckles [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} rap someone's knuckles (third-person singular simple present raps someone's knuckles, present participle rapping someone's knuckles, simple past and past participle rapped someone's knuckles)
  1. (literally) to tap one's knuckles on an object such as a desk or wall to attract attention or as a signal of commmunication. Tags: literally
    Sense id: en-rap_someone's_knuckles-en-verb-LxqczaML Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 24 41 35
  2. (somewhat dated, idiomatic) to give someone a punishment. Tags: dated, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-rap_someone's_knuckles-en-verb--h7K1QiA Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 24 41 35 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 29 40 31 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 25 49 27
  3. (archaic, literally) to strike someone on the back of the hand usually as a method of punishment. Tags: archaic, literally
    Sense id: en-rap_someone's_knuckles-en-verb-oBBrOf25 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 24 41 35

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "raps someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rapping someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rapped someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rapped someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "rap someone's knuckles (third-person singular simple present raps someone's knuckles, present participle rapping someone's knuckles, simple past and past participle rapped someone's knuckles)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "24 41 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Just rap your knuckles on the wall when you're ready to go.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Michael Kardos, The Three-Day Affair: A Novel, →ISBN, page PT65:",
          "text": "The professor let this go for a moment, then began to rap his knuckles on the podium until the room quieted again.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to tap one's knuckles on an object such as a desk or wall to attract attention or as a signal of commmunication."
      ],
      "id": "en-rap_someone's_knuckles-en-verb-LxqczaML",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(literally) to tap one's knuckles on an object such as a desk or wall to attract attention or as a signal of commmunication."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "literally"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "24 41 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 40 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 49 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If the sales department doesn't get organized soon, the CEO is going to rap their knuckles.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, James G. Greenlee, “Crazy Quilt”, in McMaster University, Volume 3: 1957-1987: A Chance for Greatness, →ISBN, page 308:",
          "text": "... while political science at Western had received a sharp rap across its knuckles.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to give someone a punishment."
      ],
      "id": "en-rap_someone's_knuckles-en-verb--h7K1QiA",
      "links": [
        [
          "punishment",
          "punishment"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(somewhat dated, idiomatic) to give someone a punishment."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "24 41 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In the old days the teacher would rap someone's knuckles with a ruler if they misbehaved in class.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Lisa Plumley, chapter 7, in Outlaw, →ISBN, page PT45:",
          "text": "...she commanded, sounding for all the world like a mean old schoolmarm about to rap his knuckles with her ruler.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to strike someone on the back of the hand usually as a method of punishment."
      ],
      "id": "en-rap_someone's_knuckles-en-verb-oBBrOf25",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, literally) to strike someone on the back of the hand usually as a method of punishment."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "literally"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "rap someone's knuckles"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "raps someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rapping someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rapped someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rapped someone's knuckles",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "rap someone's knuckles (third-person singular simple present raps someone's knuckles, present participle rapping someone's knuckles, simple past and past participle rapped someone's knuckles)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Just rap your knuckles on the wall when you're ready to go.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Michael Kardos, The Three-Day Affair: A Novel, →ISBN, page PT65:",
          "text": "The professor let this go for a moment, then began to rap his knuckles on the podium until the room quieted again.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to tap one's knuckles on an object such as a desk or wall to attract attention or as a signal of commmunication."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(literally) to tap one's knuckles on an object such as a desk or wall to attract attention or as a signal of commmunication."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "literally"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If the sales department doesn't get organized soon, the CEO is going to rap their knuckles.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, James G. Greenlee, “Crazy Quilt”, in McMaster University, Volume 3: 1957-1987: A Chance for Greatness, →ISBN, page 308:",
          "text": "... while political science at Western had received a sharp rap across its knuckles.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to give someone a punishment."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "punishment",
          "punishment"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(somewhat dated, idiomatic) to give someone a punishment."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In the old days the teacher would rap someone's knuckles with a ruler if they misbehaved in class.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Lisa Plumley, chapter 7, in Outlaw, →ISBN, page PT45:",
          "text": "...she commanded, sounding for all the world like a mean old schoolmarm about to rap his knuckles with her ruler.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to strike someone on the back of the hand usually as a method of punishment."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, literally) to strike someone on the back of the hand usually as a method of punishment."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "literally"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "rap someone's knuckles"
}

Download raw JSONL data for rap someone's knuckles meaning in English (2.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (db0bec0 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.