reap Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb gather, as of natural products
    harvest; glean.
    • harvest the grapes
  2. verb get or derive
    draw.
    • He drew great benefits from his membership in the association

WordNet

Reap transitive verb
Etymology
OE. repen, AS. ripan to seize, reap; cf. D. rapen to glean, reap, G. raufen to pluck, Goth. raupjan, or E. ripe.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Raped ; present participle & verbal noun Reaping
Definitions
  1. To cut with a sickle, scythe, or reaping machine, as grain; to gather, as a harvest, by cutting.
    When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field. Lev.. 9.
  2. To gather; to obtain; to receive as a reward or harvest, or as the fruit of labor or of works; -- in a good or a bad sense; as, to reap a benefit from exertions.
    Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate? Milton.
  3. To clear or a crop by reaping; as, to reap a field.
  4. To deprive of the beard; to shave. R. Shak.
Reap intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To perform the act or operation of reaping; to gather a harvest.
    They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Ps. cxxvi. 5.
Reap noun
Etymology
Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.
Definitions
  1. A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Obs. or Prov. Eng. Wright.

Webster 1913