to cut (wheat, rye, etc.) with a sickle or other implement or a machine, as in harvest.
2.
to gather or take (a crop, harvest, etc.).
3.
to get as a return, recompense, or result:
to reap large profits.
verb (used without object)
4.
to reap a crop, harvest, etc.
Origin
before 900;Middle Englishrepen,Old Englishrepan, riopan; cognate with Middle Low Germanrepen to ripple (flax); akin to ripe
Related forms
reapable, adjective
unreaped, adjective
Synonyms
3. gather, earn, realize, gain, win.
British Dictionary definitions for reap
reap
/riːp/
verb
1.
to cut or harvest (a crop), esp corn, from (a field or tract of land)
2.
(transitive) to gain or get (something) as a reward for or result of some action or enterprise
Derived Forms
reapable, adjective
Word Origin
Old English riopan; related to Norwegian ripa to scratch, Middle Low German repen to card, ripple (flax)
Word Origin and History for reap
v.
"to cut grain with a hook or sickle," Old English reopan, Mercian form of ripan "to reap," related to Old English ripe "ripe" (see ripe). Related: Reaped; reaping.