wrap definition

English wrap definition

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: răp, IPA^(key): /ɹæp/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -æp
  • Homophone: rap
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ɹɒp/^[1][2]

Etymology 1

From Middle English wrappen (“to wrap, fold”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to North Frisian wrappe (“to press into; stop up”), dialectal Danish vrappe (“to stuff, cram”), Middle Low German rincworpen (“to envelop, wrap”), Middle Low German wrempen (“to wrinkle, scrunch the face”), all perhaps tied to Proto-Indo-European *werp-, *werb- (“to turn, twist, bend”).

Compare also similar-sounding and similar-meaning Middle English wlappen (“to wrap, lap, envelop, fold”), Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap”) (from Germanic). Doublet of lap; related to envelop, develop. Also compare Latin verber (“whip, lash”).

Alternative forms

• wrop (dialectal)

Verb

wrap (third-person singular simple present wraps, present participle wrapping, simple past and past participle wrapped or (archaic) wrapt)

1. (transitive) To enclose (an object) completely in any flexible, thin material such as fabric or paper.

   Christmas gifts are commonly known to be wrapped in paper.

2. (transitive) To enclose or coil around an object or organism, as a form of grasping.

   A snake wraps itself around its prey.

   • 1811, William Cullen Bryant, Thanatopsis:

     Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch / About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

3. (figurative) To conceal by enveloping or enfolding; to hide.
   • a. 1640, Thomas Carew, Ingrateful Beauty Threatened:

     wise poets that wrap truth in tales

4. (transitive or intransitive, video production) To finish shooting (filming) a video, television show, or movie.

   To avoid going over budget, let's make sure we wrap by ten. (compare wrap up 2)

5. (lines, words, text, etc.) To break a continuous line (of text) onto the next line

   I wrapped the text so that I wouldn't need to scroll to the right to read it.

6. (computing, transitive) To make functionality available through a software wrapper.
7. (transitive) To (cause to) reset to an original value after passing a maximum.

   The row counter wraps back to zero when no more rows can be inserted.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:wrap.

Synonyms

• (enclose in fabric, paper, etc): enfold, lap

Antonyms

• unwrap

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English wrappe, from the verb (see above).

Noun

wrap (countable and uncountable, plural wraps)

1. Paper or sheeting that is wrapped around something to protect, contain, or conceal it.
2. A loose piece of women's clothing that one wraps around the body; a shawl or scarf.
3. (chiefly in the plural, now rare) An outer garment worn as protection while riding, travelling etc.
   • 1872, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Book I, chapter 6:

     ‘I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here,’ she said, seating herself comfortably, throwing back her wraps, and showing a thin but well-built figure.

4. A type of food consisting of various ingredients wrapped in a tortilla or pancake.
5. (entertainment) The completion of all or a major part of a performance.
   • 1994, Olivia Goldsmith, Fashionably Late:

     But she could knock off right after the wrap, have dinner, and take a later flight.

   • 2003 January 12, “Encore Presentation: Interview With the Bee Gees”, in CNN_KingWknd:

     The first time I met him is when we went to the – after the wrap party, we went to a little sound room – or a little screening room and watched the preview

   • 2009 November 14, Fox News Watch:

     And that's a wrap on "News Watch." For Judy, Jim, Cal and Kirsten, I'm Jon Scott. We'll see you again next week.'

6. A wraparound mortgage.
7. (television, radio) A complete news report ready for broadcast, incorporating spoken reporting and other material.

   Synonym: package

   • 2005, Alan R. Stephenson, David E. Reese, Mary E. Beadle, Broadcast Announcing Worktext, page 164:

     This is a news report from the scene of the event. When a voicer and an actuality are combined into one complete story, it's known as a wrap.

   • 2005, Ted White, Broadcast News: Writing, Reporting, and Producing, page 245:

     Attend a news conference, and prepare a wrap or package.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

wrap (plural wraps)

1. (Australia, informal) Alternative spelling of rap (“appraisal”)

References

Anagrams

• warp

Finnish wrap definition

Etymology

From English wrap.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈræp/, [ˈræp]
• IPA^(key): /ˈʋræp/, [ˈʋræp]

Noun

wrap

1. wrap (food)

Declension