nape
[neyp, nap]
- the back of the neck (usually used in the phrase nape of the neck).
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Origin of nape
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for nape
Contemporary Examples
His black hair sweeps back from the crest of his high forehead and laps at the nape of his neck; his lips are pursed.
His gray hair curls at the nape, but he is as graceful as he was in 1949, his timing as immaculate.
Oref—The homefront, although literally, the back of the neck, the nape.
From there, the pain shoots out toward my temple and down to the nape of my neck.
Historical Examples
She could hear his light breathing, she could discern his profile, then the nape of his neck.
FruitfulnessEmile Zola
But Gilles took him by the nape of his dirty neck and haled him back into the room.
Bardelys the MagnificentRafael Sabatini
Oliver caught him by the nape of his neck, spun him round, and flung him into the arms of Jasper.
The Sea-HawkRaphael Sabatini
Pull the nape cord taut and tie it to neck-wire in roof of mouth.
TaxidermyLeon Luther Pray
For the pain in the head, a blister to the nape of the neck.
nape1
- the back of the neckRelated adjective: nuchal
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Word Origin
C13: of unknown origin
nape2
- (tr) US military slang to attack with napalm
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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
Word Origin and History for nape
n.
"back of the neck," c.1300, of unknown origin, perhaps from Old French hanap "a goblet," in reference to the hollow at the base of the skull. "The entire absence of forms with initial k makes it difficult to connect the word with the apparently synonymous OFris (hals) knap [OED].
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
nape
(nāp, năp)- The back of the neck.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.