crap
1 Americannoun
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Vulgar.
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an act of defecation.
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Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.
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nonsense; drivel.
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falsehood, exaggeration, propaganda, or the like.
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refuse; rubbish; junk; litter.
Will you clean up that crap!
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb phrase
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crap on
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to treat badly, especially by humiliating, insulting, or slighting.
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to cause misery, misfortune, or discomfort.
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crap around
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to behave in a foolish or silly manner.
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to avoid work.
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crap up to botch, ruin, or cheapen; make a mess of.
noun
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(in craps) a losing throw, in which the total on the two dice is 2, 3, or 12.
verb phrase
noun
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nonsense
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rubbish
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another word for faeces
verb
noun
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a losing throw in the game of craps
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another name for craps
Usage
This word was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in previous editions of Collins English Dictionary . However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use
Etymology
Origin of crap1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English crap “siftings of grain; chaff,” from Old French c(h)rape “siftings,” or Middle Dutch krappe “anything cut off or separated; scrap of meat”
Origin of crap2
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; back formation from craps
Explanation
Crap is a versatile word, usually meaning feces, stuff, or garbage. It's definitely slang but not really obscene. This is a word that's on the borderline between acceptable slang and potty language. You can be 100% sure that saying the s-word (which means almost exactly the same thing as crap) will get you in trouble if you said it in class, but crap isn't so clear cut. It's sort of naughty but getting less naughty all the time. But whether you're taking a crap (pooping) or being told to get all the crap (junk) off your desk, you'll find that crap of any kind is never held in high regard.
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.
See Examples For:
Finales are always a crap shoot and I appreciated how this season managed to show growth and cosmic justice while never tipping into treacle.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
"Just so devastatingly crap" was the pithy and rather brutal view of one Labour MP in touch with me.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
“We’re knocking the crap out of them…We’ve got the greatest military in the world, and we’re using it.”
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2026
"I did a lot of crap," he told The Wall Street Journal in 2017.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
There were art desks and paint cabinets and crap that must have fallen from the floor above that were blocking the staircase entrance to his left, and water was dripping everywhere.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
The elephants crapped all over the place and someone forgot to clean up after them.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2022
Right after, a bird crapped on my rear window before I’d even picked up anyone.
From Slate ● Mar. 9, 2020
"There was this top-down mentality in the Giuliani era, it's not an 'us versus them,' we work for the community but we are not going to be crapped on either. That is gone."
From Fox News ● Jul. 26, 2019
Perhaps, “Four in the morning/ crapped out/ yawning” is explanation enough.
From Washington Post ● May 3, 2018
It feels good to not be on the bottom being crapped on.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
The Bruins keep crapping out on the Strip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
San Francisco’s problem with people crapping in the street spread to a new neighborhood over the weekend.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 14, 2020
Again, other than Kittle, it's not often a pro athlete alludes to your fantasy team in any fashion but crapping on it.
From Golf Digest ● Jan. 24, 2020
"You've got these ridiculous housing prices, crime and these people crapping on the streets. Why would anyone want to stay?"
From Fox News ● Aug. 20, 2019
He’d built a bridge of privilege for me, a hand-paved trestle to the good life, and I repaid him by chopping it down and crapping on the wreckage.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
