hap

¹ American  

[hap] / hæp /

noun

1. one's luck or lot.

2. an occurrence, happening, or accident.

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verb (used without object)

happed, happing

1. to happen.

   if it so hap.

hap ² American  

[hap, ap] / hæp, æp /

noun

1. a comforter or quilt.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover with or as with a comforter or quilt.

Hap ³ American  

[hahp, khahp] / hɑp, xɑp /

noun

Egyptian Religion.

1. Apis.

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hap ¹ British  

/ hæp /

noun

1. luck; chance

2. an occurrence

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verb

1. (intr) an archaic word for happen

hap ² British  

/ hæp /

verb

1. to cover up; wrap up warmly

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noun

1. a covering of any kind

Etymology

Origin of hap¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English, from Old Norse happ “luck, chance”; akin to Old English gehæp “fit, convenient”; probably akin to Old Church Slavonic kobŭ “auspice,” Old Irish cob “victory”

Origin of hap²

1350–1400; Middle English happen to cover; perhaps blend of lappen lap ² and Old French happer to seize

Example Sentences

Ngheu and chem chap hap sa, steamed clams and mussels, come in a buttery lemongrass broth.

From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2022

How then had a man so singularly drained of hap as the 57-year-old Israeli ended up controlling Chelsea, Portsmouth and West Ham United?

From The Guardian • Jul. 14, 2011

"I just hap pened to like all my subjects," she says.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Black Prince is that rarest of novels, one which conveys the texture, the immediacy, the superb improbability of love as it hap pens.

From Time Magazine Archive

When one has such a dream and the predicted event hap pens, it’s hard not to believe in precognition.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos