riprap

R1I1P3R1A1P3
UK/ˈɹɪpɹap/

noun

An underwater bank seen as a danger to shipping.

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Meanings

nounriprap (countable and uncountable, plural ripraps)

plural ripraps · alternative rip-rap · alternative rip rap

  1. countableuncountableAn underwater bank seen as a danger to shipping.

    They hold on, spray flying, the ceaseless racket of water impacting on rock all but swallowing them, the river pitching dizzily, snags and riprap raking like claws at the bottom of the boat.

    1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 423
  2. CanadaUScountableuncountableRocks or other materials used to shore up an embankment, deter or prevent erosion, guide shipping, or serve as a temporary mooring.
verbriprap (third-person singular simple present ripraps, present participle riprapping, simple past and past participle riprapped)

present singular third person ripraps · participle present riprapping · participle past riprapped · past riprapped · alternative rip-rap · alternative rip rap

  1. To form a riprap in or upon.

Origin

Apparently a reduplication (with vowel dissimilation) of rap (“blow, stroke”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

riprap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/riprap

MLA

“riprap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/riprap. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “riprap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/riprap.

Source: riprap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.