rappee

English

Etymology

From French (tabac) râpé (“grated (tobacco)”), past participle of râper (“to grate”), from Old French rasper "to scrape"; of Germanic origin.

Noun

rappee (countable and uncountable, plural rappees)

1. (archaic, chiefly historical) A dark, coarse, strongly flavoured snuff. [from 18th c.]
   • 1766, George Colman, David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage, a Comedy. […], London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […]; R[oberts] Baldwin, […]; R. Davis, […]; and T[homas] Davies, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, page 58:

     Thou art like my rappee here, [takes out his box.] a moſt ridiculous ſuperfluity, but a pinch of thee novv and then is a moſt delicious treat.

   • 1771, [Tobias Smollett], The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC:

     The fellow wears a solitaire, uses paint, and takes rappee with all the grimace of a French marquis.

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, chapter XXXV, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     ‘Why, it is difficult, sir, I confess,’ said the tall footman. ‘It may be done by degrees, Sir. Coffee is the best practice. I carried coffee, Sir, for a long time. It looks very like rappee, sir.’

Anagrams

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