the crap

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableinformalvulgar

   Used in informal phrases to mean nonsense, something of very low quality, or a bad situation.

   Grammar: Often used in fixed phrases like 'cut the crap' or 'full of crap'; not usually used with 'a'.

   Patterns

   • cut the crap
   • full of crap
   • the crap

   Cut the crap and tell me what really happened.

   That movie was full of crap from beginning to end.

   I'm tired of all the crap I have to deal with at work.

2. 2noununcountableinformalvulgar

   Used in phrases like 'beat the crap out of' to mean hit someone very hard or defeat them badly.

   Grammar: This use is always in fixed expressions and is very informal and aggressive.

   Patterns

   • beat the crap out of someone
   • knock the crap out of someone

   He threatened to beat the crap out of anyone who disagreed.

   The team beat the crap out of their opponents in the final.

Common combinations

cut the crap

Let's cut the crap and get to the point.

full of crap

Don't listen to him; he's full of crap.

beat the crap out of

The bully beat the crap out of the smaller boy.

a load of crap

That excuse is a load of crap.

Synonyms and how they differ

nonsense

A more polite and formal word for ideas that are not true or reasonable.

rubbish

Common in British English and less vulgar than 'crap'.

bullshit

Stronger and more offensive than 'crap'; use with caution.

Word family

crap adjective

Informal and vulgar, meaning very bad or of poor quality.

crappy adjective

Informal, meaning bad or unpleasant.

Commonly confused: the crap or crop?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “the crap”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words