Meaning & use
crap
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountableinformalvulgar
something that is of very poor quality or worthless; nonsense.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means 'nonsense' or 'rubbish': That's a load of crap. It can be countable when referring to a specific act of defecation, but that is rare and very vulgar.
Patterns
- a load of crap
- talk crap
- full of crap
That movie was total crap; I want my money back.
Don't listen to him — he talks crap most of the time.
The food at that restaurant is crap.
noununcountableinformalvulgar
solid waste from the body; feces.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun, often in the phrase 'take a crap' (countable in that phrase). Very informal and vulgar.
Patterns
- take a crap
- dog crap
Be careful where you step — there's dog crap on the sidewalk.
He went behind a tree to take a crap.
verbintransitiveinformalvulgar
to defecate.
Grammar: Used without an object. Very vulgar and informal.
Patterns
- crap in/on something
The cat crapped on the carpet again.
He needed to crap but there was no bathroom nearby.
adjectivebefore a nouninformalvulgar
of very poor quality; bad.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a crap movie, crap weather. Not usually used after a linking verb (not 'The movie is crap' in formal writing, though it is common in speech).
Patterns
- crap weather
- crap job
- crap food
We had crap weather the whole vacation.
I'm tired of this crap job.
Word forms
| third person singular | craps |
|---|---|
| past tense | crapped |
| past participle | crapped |
| -ing form | crapping |
Common combinations
- a load of crap
- His excuse was a load of crap.
- cut the crap
- Cut the crap and tell me what really happened.
- crap weather
- We stayed inside because of the crap weather.
- full of crap
- Don't believe him; he's full of crap.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rubbish
- British and slightly less vulgar; means the same as 'crap' when talking about poor quality or nonsense.
- nonsense
- A neutral, polite word for something that is not true or doesn't make sense; 'crap' is much more informal and vulgar.
- shit
- More vulgar and stronger than 'crap'; often considered more offensive.
Word family
- crappy adjective
- Informal adjective meaning of very poor quality: a crappy day.
Commonly confused: crap or crop?
crap vs crop
A crop is a plant grown for food; crap is a vulgar word for nonsense or waste. They sound similar but are completely different.
Practice
Choose the best word to complete the sentence: 'That movie was a load of ___ — I fell asleep.'
Choose one answer.
'Crap' fits because it means nonsense or something of very poor quality. 'Crop' is a plant, 'crab' is a sea animal, and 'crepe' is a thin pancake or a fabric — none fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crap”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.