rape
rape Lexical Profile
rape Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Unlawful sexual activity, especially sexual intercourse, carried out forcibly or without a person's consent.
"The legal system imposes severe penalties for rape and other forms of sexual assault."
An outrageous violation, plundering, or despoiling of a place, country, or natural environment.
"Conservationists condemned the unchecked deforestation as the rape of the ancient woodland."
An annual plant of the cabbage family (Brassica napus) with bright yellow flowers, widely cultivated as livestock fodder and for its oil-rich seeds.
"Fields of flowering rape turned the springtime countryside a vivid shade of yellow."
The pomace or refuse of grapes left after pressing in winemaking, used especially in the production of vinegar.
"The traditional vinegar maker filtered the fermented liquid through a bed of grape rape."
• verb
To commit the crime of rape against a person; to force someone to submit to non-consensual sexual intercourse.
"The defendant was convicted after multiple witnesses testified at the trial."
To plunder, despoil, or strip a place or natural resource in a destructive manner.
"Illegal logging operations continued to rape the region's protected forests."
Word Nuance & Usage
In botanical and agricultural contexts, 'rapeseed' or 'canola' is strongly preferred over 'rape' in modern usage to avoid association with the violent crime. Similarly, figurative uses meaning 'to plunder or despoil' should be used with caution in contemporary prose.
• Rhymes for rape
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense relating to forcible seizure and sexual assault derives from Anglo-French 'raper' and Latin 'rapere' ('to seize or carry off by force'). The botanical sense is an unrelated homonym from Latin 'rapa' or 'rapum' ('turnip').