Meaning & use
reap
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitiveold-fashioned
To cut and gather a ripe crop such as grain, usually from a field.
Grammar: Takes a crop as object or none: they reap the wheat, or they reap in August.
Patterns
- reap a crop
- reap a field
Farmers reap the wheat in late summer.
They reaped three fields of barley before the rain.
In the old days, workers reaped by hand.
verbtransitivefigurative
To receive a result or reward, good or bad, as the outcome of your own earlier actions.
Grammar: Takes an object, often benefits or rewards: reap the benefits.
Patterns
- reap the benefits of something
- reap the rewards of something
- reap what you sow
After years of study, she is now reaping the rewards.
Companies that invest in staff reap the benefits of loyalty.
He reaped the consequences of ignoring the warnings.
verbtransitivebusiness
To earn or make money or profit from something.
Grammar: Often followed by profit or gain: reap huge profits.
Patterns
- reap a profit
- reap huge gains
The early investors reaped huge profits when the company went public.
The shop reaped a good return on its advertising.
Word forms
| third person singular | reaps |
|---|---|
| past tense | reaped |
| past participle | reaped |
| -ing form | reaping |
Common combinations
- reap the benefits
- Students reap the benefits of regular practice.
- reap the rewards
- You will reap the rewards of your patience.
- reap what you sow
- If you cheat, you reap what you sow.
- reap the harvest
- The village reaped a rich harvest this year.
- reap a profit
- The seller reaped a quick profit on the sale.
Synonyms and how they differ
- harvest
- Harvest is the usual modern word for gathering crops, while reap is older and more often used figuratively.
- gain
- Gain just means to obtain, and reap suggests earned results after effort.
- earn
- Earn stresses deserving something through work, but reap stresses the result arriving after time.
- obtain
- Obtain is formal and neutral, with no sense of a delayed result.
Opposites
Word family
- reaper noun
- a person or machine that cuts a crop
- reaping noun
- the act of cutting a crop
- reaping hook noun
- a sickle for cutting grain
- Grim Reaper noun
- the personification of death carrying a scythe
Commonly confused: reap or rip?
reap vs rip
Rip means to tear and has a short i sound. Reap has a long ee sound and means to gather or receive.
Practice
Complete the saying: You reap what you ____.
Choose one answer.
Sow means to plant seeds, which is the opposite of reap. Sew is a homophone but means to stitch.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reap”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.