What does reap mean?
Word: Reap
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Reap means to cut and gather a crop; also, to receive the results of something you did earlier, good or bad.
Synonyms: gather, collect, gain
Antonyms: sow, plant
Word origin: From Old English ripan or reopan.
How do you spell reap?
Syllables: reap
Tricky part: The long ee sound is spelt ea, as in heap and leap. Students write reep or reape.
Watch out for: reep, reape, riep
Memory tip: You reap a heap of grain: heap and reap share the same ea.
Idioms and Phrases
- you reap what you sow: what happens to you depends on what you did before Example: "He never studied and then failed the test; you reap what you sow."
- reap the benefits: to enjoy good results from earlier effort Example: "Isla practised every day and is now reaping the benefits."
Reap in a sentence
Example 1: Farmers in Punjab reap the wheat in April.
Example 2: The whole family helps to reap the mustard crop in March.
Example 3: If we plant trees now, our children will reap the rewards.
Fun Fact
Mechanical reapers pulled by horses came into use in the 1830s and cut grain far faster than workers could by hand.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word reap as used in the sentence:
The farmers hope to reap a good crop of cotton this season.
a) sell
b) weigh
c) harvest
d) water
Show answer
c) harvest. Reaping a crop and harvesting it are the same farm job: cutting it and bringing it in.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. fertil 2. orchad 3. irigate 4. reap
a) to bring in ripe grain from the fields
b) a piece of land where fruit trees grow
c) to supply land with water through channels
d) able to produce good crops
Show answer
a) to bring in ripe grain from the fields. Irrigate starts with a double r, fertile ends in a silent e, and orchard keeps an r before its d. Reap, short as it is, is the correct one.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Every October the farmers in our village are busy reapping the paddy by hand and storing the grain in a tall granary beside the pond.
a) paddy
b) village
c) reapping
d) granary
Show answer
c) reapping. Reap has two vowels before its p, so the p is not doubled: reaping, like heaping.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which tool was used in the past to reap grain by hand?
a) a trowel
b) a hammer
c) a sickle
d) a chisel
Show answer
c) a sickle
2. A company reaping profits is ____.
a) closing down
b) paying its debts
c) making money
d) losing money
Show answer
c) making money
