nap

views updated Jun 11 2018

nap1 / nap/ • v. (napped, nap·ping) [intr.] sleep lightly or briefly, esp. during the day.• n. a short sleep, esp. during the day: excuse me, I'll just take a little nap.PHRASES: catch someone napping inf. (of a person, action, or event) find someone off guard and unprepared to respond: he caught the runner napping off second base and tagged him out.nap2 • n. [in sing.] the raised hairs, threads, or similar small projections on the surface of fabric or suede (used esp. with reference to the direction in which they naturally lie).DERIVATIVES: nap·less adj.nap3 • n. a card game resembling whist in which players declare the number of tricks they expect to take, up to five.nap4 • v. (napped , nap·ping ) [intr.] (of a horse) refuse, esp. habitually, to go on at the rider's instruction; jib.DERIVATIVES: nap·py / ˈnapē/ adj.

nap

views updated Jun 11 2018

nap3 †napoleon (20-franc piece); card-game in which the player who calls five is said to go nap, formerly go the Napoleon. XIX. Short for Napoleon, Christian name of certain French emperors, esp. Napoleon I (1769–1821), after whom the coin was named.

nap

views updated May 29 2018

nap2 surface of cloth raised and cut smooth. XV (noppe). — MLG., MDu. noppe, rel. to noppen trim by shearing the nap.

nap

views updated May 18 2018

nap1 take a short sleep. OE. hnappian, rel. to OHG. (h)naffezan slumber (MHG. nafzen), of unkn. orig.
Hence sb. XIII.

NAP

views updated May 23 2018

NAP (næp) National Association for the Paralysed