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Recent Examples of knap
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
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
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
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
Shaggy Briton woodsmen in the vast pre-Roman forests of Cumbria, gripping their sacred Langdale axes, with glimmering heads knapped from the rare volcanic greenstone mined from the Pike of Stickle.
—Jonny Diamond, Longreads, 8 June 2019
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
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
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
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
Shaggy Briton woodsmen in the vast pre-Roman forests of Cumbria, gripping their sacred Langdale axes, with glimmering heads knapped from the rare volcanic greenstone mined from the Pike of Stickle.
—Jonny Diamond, Longreads, 8 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knap
Verb
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But the refund check proposal, initially $3 billion, was chiseled in negotiations to $2 billion.—
Benjamin Oreskes,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
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Restructuring Burns and other veterans would chisel away at that 2026 cap space.—
Dan Duggan,
New York Times,
21 May 2025
Verb
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Parks and Rec public service manager Clare Cloyd said residents for years have asked the department to carve out a space for dogs.—
Safiya Mohamed,
Twin Cities,
7 July 2025
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The best way to address this is to carve out a seller not equal to the total potential earnout that is subject to adjustment if the target is not met.—
Richard Parker,
Forbes.com,
6 July 2025
Verb
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And how can sculpture accomplish the experience of simultaneous collective reception that was formerly its greatest social promise?—
Benjamin H. D. Buchloh,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
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Bourdelle’s voluminous works in marble, bronze, and wood fill the lofty mezzanine, while his bronze sculptures Héraklès archer (Hercules the Archer) and Centaure mourant (Dying Centaur) highlight the garden.—
Kasia Dietz,
Travel + Leisure,
29 July 2024
Verb
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There’s furniture that’s been hewn from local wood and the decorative plates from Arita, Japan’s most exclusive earthenware and pottery brand.—
Terry Elward,
Forbes.com,
15 June 2025
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The superpower that succeeds in persuading key Southeast Asian countries—such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—to hew closely to its line stands a better chance of realizing its objectives in Asia.—
Yuen Foong Khong,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
Verb
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Reverie Hymn Hair Gel delivers just that: a flexible, airy finish with enough control to keep curls sculpted or a blowout bouncy.—
Jailynn Taylor,
Allure,
26 June 2025
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Beyond Rutte, the whole summit was sculpted around Trump.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
25 June 2025
Verb
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The prospect of trying to cut open a stubborn 5-4-1 block in the Orlando heat could have become torturous quite quickly.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
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The latest setback was the Senate parliamentarian striking down several provisions of the bill that were designed to cut spending.—
Haisten Willis,
The Washington Examiner,
27 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Knap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knap. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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