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knapp

Pronunciation: /knap/

“knapp” is a German word. Its 7 meanings in English:

adjective

  1. scarce
  2. lean (having little extra)
  3. somewhat less (than)
  4. short or tight
  5. a close call, a narrow escape

adverb

  1. narrowly, just, barely
  2. somewhat less than, almost

Etymology

From Middle Low German knap, probably related to Old Norse hneppr (“button”) and hneppa (“pinch”), all from Proto-Germanic *knappô, *knappa-, which is perhaps related to Proto-West Germanic *knappō (“knob, boy”) or Proto-Germanic *knuppaz (“lump, clod”), though the semantic gaps are non-trivial. Cognate with Dutch knap, but of uncertain ultimate origin. Also compare Danish næppe (“hardly at all”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.