[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/hap/)

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# hap

noun (hap, haps — old-fashioned); verb (hap, haps, happed, happing — old)

«hap» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (old) Luck or chance, especially something that happens by chance. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#m1)
2. (old) An event that happens; «haps» means things that happen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#m2)
3. (Scotland, northern England, dialect) To wrap up warmly; a «hap» is a warm shawl or blanket. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#m3)

### In the lessons

In modern English «hap» is rarely used alone, but it is the root of common words: happen, happy, perhaps, mishap, haphazard, hapless. In old stories and the Bible-era English it means luck. In slang, «what's the haps?» (US) means «what's happening?». Phrases: by hap, what's the haps.

### Examples

- In old stories, «by hap» means «by chance». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#x1)
- «Happen» and «perhaps» both come from «hap». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#x2)
- A «mishap» is a small accident, a bit of bad hap. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#x3)
- Granny in Shetland happed the baby in a woolly shawl. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#x4)
- «What's the haps?» my cousin from California asked. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#x5)
- "What better hap could I look for, fool that I am!" [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/#x6)

### Note

Old and dialect word; do not use in school essays except when explaining word roots. Word family: happen, happy, perhaps, mishap, haphazard (by chance, without a plan), hapless (unlucky). Not to be confused with «hip» or «hop».

## In Jewish tradition

Ruth's "hap" was to come to Boaz's field, as if by chance.

**Interpretation.** Tradition reads this seeming chance as God's quiet guidance leading Ruth to Boaz.

### Examples

- And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and her hap was to light on the portion of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. (Writings RUT.2.3, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/hap/#x1)

### Note

Old and dialect word; do not use in school essays except when explaining word roots. Word family: happen, happy, perhaps, mishap, haphazard (by chance, without a plan), hapless (unlucky). Not to be confused with «hip» or «hop».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hap» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hap/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hap» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hap.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «hap» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/hap/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hap» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/hap.html) on Mova free.