🎤 A rap musician 🚪 A door knocker

rapper

3 9.9

A metal piece on a door you lift and hit to make a sound

noun
/ˈræpər/

Archaic

: llamador

Synonyms

doorbell

vsrapper

144 1.0

A button by the front door that rings when someone presses it to tell you a visitor is there

is a manual metal device used by knocking not by pressing a button

knocker

vsrapper

4 2.8

A metal object on a door that you lift to make a knocking sound

is usually hinged and used by swinging rather than lifting and striking

doorknocker

vsrapper

1 4.3

A metal object on a door that you lift or hit to show you are there

is typically the hinged metal device for announcing presence rather than electronic ringing

bell push

vsrapper

4.6

A button on a door or wall you press to ring a bell at an entrance

is operated by knocking rather than by pressing a mounted button

Compounds

spirit rapper

Archaic

9.9

A person who makes knocking sounds and says they are messages from the dead

Surface Forms

rapper singular

rappers plural

Morphology

rapper = rap (semi-transparent) = rap + er

Formed from 'rap' (to knock) + '-er', but the 'knock' sense of 'rap' is less familiar to many learners who know 'rap' mainly as music, making the device meaning only partially predictable.

Etymology

Rapper (the door device) comes from rap, which means 'to strike' or 'hit', as in the phrase 'to rap on the door'. So a rapper is something that 'raps' the door to make a knocking sound.