reap
v. · n.-
1 to harvest crops (v.) B2 Upper Intermediateto cut and collect grain or other crops from a field when they are ready.
to harvest a crop by cutting it with a tool or machine. Transitive, often associated with traditional agriculture.
ExampleThe farmers worked from dawn until dusk to reap the wheat before the storm arrived.
ExampleIn the pre-industrial era, entire villages would gather to reap the barley by hand, ensuring the grain was stored before the autumn rains.
UsageOften used with 'harvest' as a direct object.
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2 to get a reward or result (v.) B2 Upper Intermediateto get something, like a benefit or a punishment, because of something you did in the past.
to obtain or receive something as a consequence of previous actions. Frequently appears in the idiom 'reap the benefits' or 'reap the rewards'.
ExampleAfter years of hard work, she is finally starting to reap the rewards of her success.
ExampleThe company began to reap the benefits of its early investment in renewable energy, seeing a significant rise in quarterly profits.
UsageCommonly used in the metaphorical phrase 'reap what you sow'.
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3 to manage child processes (v.) C2 Proficiency Technical Computingto clean up a finished computer process so it does not waste memory.
to acknowledge the exit status of a terminated child process, removing its entry from the system process table.
ExampleThe system needs to reap the finished processes to keep the server running smoothly.
ExampleIf the parent process fails to reap its children, the system may become cluttered with zombie processes that consume process IDs.
Teacher's tipThis is a highly specialized term in Unix-like operating systems; learners will likely only encounter it in systems programming.
- clean up
- terminate
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4 a bundle of grain (n.) C2 Proficiency Archaic Literarya small bundle of grain that has just been cut.
a handful or bundle of grain laid down by a reaper during the harvesting process.
ExampleHe left a small reap of corn on the ground for the birds to find.
ExampleThe field was dotted with reaps of golden wheat, waiting to be gathered into larger sheaves for transport.
UsageRare in modern English; primarily found in historical or agricultural texts.
- bundle
- sheaf
From Middle English repen, from Old English rēopan, rēpan, variants of Old English rīpan (“to reap”), from Proto-West Germanic rīpan, from Proto-Germanic rīpaną (compare West Frisian repe, Norwegian ripa (“to score, scratch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”).
- Verbreap
- Nounreaper
- 01
reap the harvest
To receive the rewards of something to one's efforts; get out what one puts in.
- 02
reap the whirlwind
To suffer bad consequences for one's actions.
- 03
reap what one sows
To receive as a return or reward in the same measure as one's exertions or intentions, in a good or a bad sense; to receive justice or one's just deserts.