rape

RAYP/ɹeɪp/

Pluralrapes, rape

Verbrapes, raping, raped

19 meanings of rape

Practice

1
sexual assaultnouncountable or uncountable
The crime of having sex with someone who does not or cannot agree to it.
He was sent to prison for rape after a long trial.
The city opened a new center to help victims of rape.
UsageSay someone was charged with rape.
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2
verbtransitive
To have sex with someone who does not or cannot agree to it.
The man was sent to prison because he raped a young woman.
She ran to a neighbor's house and said a stranger had tried to rape her.
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3
oil cropnoununcountable
A farm plant with bright yellow flowers, grown for the oil in its seeds.
In spring, the fields of rape turn bright yellow.
Farmers grow rape and sell the seeds to make cooking oil.
UsageOften called rapeseed.
Similarrapeseed
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4
despoilverbtransitive
To rob and destroy a place, taking everything valuable from it.
The miners raped the hillside and left nothing but mud and rock.
If we let them rape the forest, the animals will have nowhere to live.
UsageA very strong word; plunder is milder.
Similarplunder, ravage, despoil, pillage, loot
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Less common meanings

5
seize (things)verbarchaictransitive or intransitive
In old use, to take something or someone away by force.
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6
nounrarecountable or uncountable
The act of taking something, or carrying someone away, by force.
Ruin'd orphans of thy rapes complain.
1638, George Sandys, A Paraphrase upon JobHere, rapes means acts of taking things or people away by force.
Few of the Teleri were willing to go forth to war, for they remembered the slaying at the Swanhaven, and the rape of their ships.
1977, JRR Tolkien, The SilmarillionHere, rape means taking their ships away by force.
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7
nouncountablefigurative
The cruel wrecking or using up of something, such as land, a city, a culture, or an idea.
People in the valley called the new mine the rape of their hills.
Many saw the burning of the old library as the rape of a whole culture.
UsageUsually the rape of something.
Similardestruction, violation, despoliation, plunder
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8
trounceverbslangoffensivetransitive
To beat someone very badly in a game or contest.
Their team raped us 9 to 1 last night.
He'll rape you at that fighting game. He's been playing for years.
UsageMany people find this hurtful; say beat instead.
Similartrounce, thrash, crush, demolish, annihilate
9
put through hellverbslangoffensivetransitive
To treat someone very badly or unfairly, or take advantage of them, often for money.
Airport food stands rape you because you have nowhere else to eat.
The only tow truck around raped us on the price because we were stuck.
Similargouge, fleece, soak
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10
nounslangoffensivecountable or uncountable
A complete and total defeat, when one side overpowers the other.
The game wasn't even close. It was total rape.
Our soccer game was a complete rape. We lost ten to nothing.
Similarrout, thrashing, drubbing, massacre
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11
nounslangoffensivecountable or uncountable
Something so bad to see or hear that you feel it has hurt you deeply.
That screeching noise in the video was ear rape. I still hear it.
Those neon colors on his website are eye rape. I can't unsee them.
Similardesecration, violation, defilement
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12
nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
Something grabbed and carried away, like a thief's stolen goods or a bird's catch.
Where now are all my hopes? O, never more. / Shall they revive! nor death her rapes restore.
1636, G[eorge] S[andys], A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of DavidHere, rapes means what was grabbed and carried away.
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13
nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
In very old use, great hurry or rushing without care.
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14
verbobsoleteintransitivereflexive
To hurry or rush, moving or acting very quickly.
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15
adverbobsolete
In a very quick or hurried way, without waiting.
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16
nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
Fruit picked together in a bunch, like a bunch of grapes.
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17
nounslang
In slang that can offend, something one side enjoys while the other suffers, especially when the suffering is worse than needed.
18
noun
The grape stems and skins left after the juice is pressed out, sometimes used to filter wine.
19
noun
One of six old parts that the county of Sussex, in England, was divided into.
It seems to me very clear that the rapes of Sussex were divisions already existing there when the Normans landed.
1888, Henry H. Howorth, in a letter to The Archaeological ReviewHere, rapes means the six old divisions of Sussex.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of rape apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2, 4–13

From Middle English rapen, meaning to seize or carry off. It probably comes from Latin rapiō, though its exact history is unclear.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

The word derives from Middle English rapen, which meant to seize or carry off. en.wiktionary.org
Latin rapiō is its probable source. en.wiktionary.org
Its precise derivation is uncertain. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 14–15

It comes from the Middle English word rapen. That came from the Old Norse word hrapa, which meant to fall or to hurry.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

This sense of rape comes from Middle English rapen. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English rapen came from Old Norse hrapa. en.wiktionary.org
Old Norse hrapa meant to fall or to hurry. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 3

The word comes from Latin. The Latin word rāpa came from rāpum, which means turnip. In Middle English it was rape.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

The plant name comes from Latin through Middle English rape. en.wiktionary.org
Latin rāpa derives from rāpum. en.wiktionary.org
Latin rāpum means turnip. en.wiktionary.org
The Middle English form was rape. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 16

From Middle English rape, meaning grape stalk, ultimately from Old French raper ("to rasp, scratch").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

The word ultimately derives from Old French raper, meaning "to rasp, scratch". en.wiktionary.org