knapsack
English
Etymology
From Low GermanCategory:English terms derived from Low German#KNAPSACK knapzak or DutchCategory:English terms derived from Dutch#KNAPSACK knapzak (older form cnapsack), from Middle DutchCategory:English terms derived from Middle Dutch#KNAPSACK cnappen (“to bite with teeth”), ultimately from knappen (“to eat, crack”), of imitativeCategory:English onomatopoeias#KNAPSACK origin, + sack. German Knappsack is from Dutch.
Pronunciation
Noun
knapsack (plural knapsacks)Category:English lemmas#KNAPSACKCategory:English nouns#KNAPSACKCategory:English countable nouns#KNAPSACKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KNAPSACKCategory:Pages with entries#KNAPSACKCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KNAPSACK
- (chiefly USCategory:American English#KNAPSACK, datedCategory:English dated terms#KNAPSACK or archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#KNAPSACK in UKCategory:British English#KNAPSACK) A case of canvas or leather, for carrying items on the back.
- 1936, Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post, ch 3. "All but Nancy carried knapsacks, with sandwiches and thermos flasks of tea. Peggy’s knapsack held Nancy’s provisions as well as her own, for on Nancy’s shoulders, instead of a knapsack, was a pigeon-basket […]"
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 23:
- The two elder reluctantly left him and walked on, taking their brother's knapsack to relieve him in following, and the youngest entered the field.Category:English terms with quotations#KNAPSACK
- (cryptographyCategory:en:Cryptography#KNAPSACK) A set of values from which a subset is chosen.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
knapsack (third-person singular simple present knapsacks, present participle knapsacking, simple past and past participle knapsacked)Category:English lemmas#KNAPSACKCategory:English verbs#KNAPSACKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KNAPSACKCategory:Pages with entries#KNAPSACKCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KNAPSACK
- To go hiking while burdened with a knapsack, usually overnight or for longer.
- My sleeping bag fell off my backpack into the water, while we were knapsacking up the mountain.Category:English terms with usage examples#KNAPSACK
Synonyms
See also
Further reading
- James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Knapsack”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.