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Recent Examples of knap
And that’s mostly true; Neanderthals in both places used broadly similar techniques to make similar tools: triangular flakes and points, knapped from flint.
—
ArsTechnica, 18 July 2025
If confirmed, our human ancestors started shaping bones by striking them at specific angles in a process known as knapping as much as 1.5 million years ago.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 5 Mar. 2025
Rocks could be knapped, or shaped, into knife blades, spear points, ax heads, and more, allowing hunter-gatherers to take on new prey and use animal remains for clothing and other things.
—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2024
Our Paleolithic ancestors learned to knap delicate blades from round stone cobbles, hunt large game and cook their food.
—Herman Pontzer, Scientific American, 12 Dec. 2022
The course was jointly led by Ojibwe elders, who taught him how to knap flint, tan hides and build wigwams.
—Franz Lidz Meghan Dhaliwal, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2022
Knowing how to make a friction fire, or how to whittle a paddle out of a log, or how to knap stone arrowheads all have their place in a survival situation (particularly fire making).
—Jim Baird, Field & Stream, 3 Aug. 2020
There was the first time someone knapped and hafted a rock onto a spear shaft, and the first time someone strung up a bow.
—Tyler Freel, Outdoor Life, 19 Mar. 2020
His hair was unruly and his large, blunt fingers were usually fishing for a cigarette, except when preoccupied with his favourite hobby: knapping prehistoric flint tools.
—1843, 20 Feb. 2020
ArsTechnica, 18 July 2025
If confirmed, our human ancestors started shaping bones by striking them at specific angles in a process known as knapping as much as 1.5 million years ago.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 5 Mar. 2025
Rocks could be knapped, or shaped, into knife blades, spear points, ax heads, and more, allowing hunter-gatherers to take on new prey and use animal remains for clothing and other things.
—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2024
Our Paleolithic ancestors learned to knap delicate blades from round stone cobbles, hunt large game and cook their food.
—Herman Pontzer, Scientific American, 12 Dec. 2022
The course was jointly led by Ojibwe elders, who taught him how to knap flint, tan hides and build wigwams.
—Franz Lidz Meghan Dhaliwal, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2022
Knowing how to make a friction fire, or how to whittle a paddle out of a log, or how to knap stone arrowheads all have their place in a survival situation (particularly fire making).
—Jim Baird, Field & Stream, 3 Aug. 2020
There was the first time someone knapped and hafted a rock onto a spear shaft, and the first time someone strung up a bow.
—Tyler Freel, Outdoor Life, 19 Mar. 2020
His hair was unruly and his large, blunt fingers were usually fishing for a cigarette, except when preoccupied with his favourite hobby: knapping prehistoric flint tools.
—1843, 20 Feb. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knap
Verb
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Then the hard work began, like a sculptor chiseling a block of marble into a work of art.—
Andrew Carter,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Jan. 2026
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For 11 days starting in late January, downtown fills with ice and snow sculptures, lively parades, and some of the region’s most skilled carvers chiseling massive blocks into glistening scenes.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Midwest Living,
29 Dec. 2025
Verb
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In the late 1700s, while visiting England, American presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson allegedly carved off pieces of a wooden chair said to belong to Shakespeare.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
11 Jan. 2026
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This approach turned him into a wildly creative and curious rhythm guitarist — turns out carving out that space between Garcia and Lesh meant pioneering chord voicings and strange vamps rarely heard in rock ‘n’ roll.—
Jed Gottlieb,
Boston Herald,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Tobolowsky came late to sculpture, at least as a profession.—
Tribune News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
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Semi-wild pigs snuffle beneath the huge granite boulders, solid and immutable as Henry Moore sculptures, that define this otherworldly landscape.—
Catherine Fairweather,
Condé Nast Traveler,
1 July 2025
Verb
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Las acciones de Google son especialmente insensibles y graves ante el cierre administrativo temporal del gobierno (shutdown), ignorando las peticiones de funcionarios gubernamentales y organizaciones hispanas que les solicitaron mantener la programación de Univision en el paquete principal.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
1 Oct. 2025
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Better yet, the superstar—who recently graved our TV screens on The White Lotus—worked with stylist Brett Alan Nelson to deliver custom outfits for the set.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
19 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The pastoral feel of the music, and Murdoch’s soft, tremulous tenor conjures Nick Drake, but the content of the songs hews closer to the urban fever dreams of Martin Amis, whose 1995 novel The Information traces similar lines of fading-empire disenfranchisement.—
Elizabeth Nelson,
Pitchfork,
22 Jan. 2026
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Views on the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis hew closely to party lines.—
Anthony Salvanto,
CBS News,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But in the invisibly sculpting hands of Swiss director Petra Volpe and the exquisite performances of two first-rate actors, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan, Frank & Louis is an uncommonly tender incarceration drama.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Jan. 2026
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This state sculpting competition, as with most sculpting competitions, has strict rules, regulations and guidelines shared in advance and reiterated onsite prior to the start.—
Jared Kaufman,
Twin Cities,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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With the benefit of hindsight, analysts and investors have blamed much of Kraft Heinz’s downward spiral on the brutal cost-cutting strategy imposed after the merger.—
Amelia Lucas,
CNBC,
31 Jan. 2026
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Beijing has spent decades growing its trade ties and bankrolling projects in the region, to boost transportation links and cut energy costs – cementing its own influence along the way.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knap. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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