Synonyms

reap

American

[reep] / rip /

verb (used with object)

to cut (wheat, rye, etc.) with a sickle or other implement or a machine, as in harvest.
to gather or take (a crop, harvest, etc.).
to get as a return, recompense, or result.

to reap large profits.

Synonyms:

win, gain, realize, earn, gather

verb (used without object)

to reap a crop, harvest, etc.

reap British

/ riːp /

verb

to cut or harvest (a crop), esp corn, from (a field or tract of land)
(tr) to gain or get (something) as a reward for or result of some action or enterprise

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of reap

before 900; Middle English repen, Old English repan, riopan; cognate with Middle Low German repen to ripple (flax); akin to ripe

Explanation

When you reap something, you enjoy the rewards of your efforts. When your great audition gets you cast in your dream role, you reap the benefits of all that rehearsing you did. Reap can also describe the act of harvesting crops. The farmer will then sell the crop, reaping a profit. Here, reap means the same as gain. You may have heard the expression "what you reap is what you sow," which comes from the New Testament and can apply to farming and everything else — if, for example, you are patient with other people, they in turn will be patient with you.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Tour operators, vendors and drivers in Siem Reap and Bangkok say the closures and renewed clashes in July and this month have sharply hit business.

From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025

I meet Sothea on a hot and sticky afternoon this summer, in Siem Reap, a town close to Angkor Wat and the other monuments that first drew Johnson to Cambodia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025

The ban applies to any vehicle or person trying to cross into Cambodia from checkpoints across several Thai provinces, as well as foreign tourists flying into Siem Reap.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2025

We'd just spent several days in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, and I'd finally been able to relax.

From Salon • Jan. 22, 2023

The new arrivals told him of the evacuation and how the Khmer Rouge forced everyone to leave all the cities, including Phnom Penh, Battam- bang, and Siem Reap.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023