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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
-
The second episode is largely confined to the dark walls which Irons’ next-door prisoner, a cleric known as the Abbé Faria, has spent years trying to painstakingly chisel his way through.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Divers have to carefully chisel each coral from the seabed by hand and bring it to the surface, which takes a lot of time and labor.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In 1775, under the Spanish Crown, Anza led an expedition that carved a route from Sonora, Mexico, to what would eventually become San Francisco.—
Molly McCrea,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Her Blossom Marble Bowl—carved from a single block of honeycomb or travertine marble in Rajasthan—is unfurled, like a flower caught in late bloom.—
Kathryn O’Shea-Evans,
Robb Report,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Tobolowsky came late to sculpture, at least as a profession.—
Tribune News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
-
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
-
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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At 249 pounds, this one, hewn from polished Verde marble, isn’t going anywhere.—
Kathryn O’Shea-Evans,
Robb Report,
29 Mar. 2026
-
After the fall 2026 menswear shows came to a close back in January, Vogue’s Laird Borrelli-Persson reported that men’s clothes were hewing closer and closer to womenswear.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As a recipient of the prize, Maher will receive a copy of an 1884 bronze portrait bust of Mark Twain sculpted by Karl Gerhardt (1853-1940).—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
-
There was SimEarth in 1990, in which the player tunes a planet’s atmospheric conditions, sculpts its landmasses, plunks down life-forms.—
Eric Boodman,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Cavaliers led by as many as 36 points, but the Heat went on a third-quarter run to cut the deficit to 19 in the final seconds of the period.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
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Reduce the lot size, cut the square footage, and a house should cost less, supporters said.—
Mark Dee
March 28,
Idaho Statesman,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knap. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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