Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A descent of a vertical surface, as a cliff or wall, by sliding down a belayed rope that is passed under one thigh and over the opposite shoulder or through a device that provides friction, typically while facing the surface and performing a series of short backward leaps to control the descent.
- v. To descend from a steep height by this method.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The roll or beat of the drum to call soldiers to arms.
- n. An ancient musical instrument, still used in Egypt, consisting of a ring to which are attached small bells or metal plates, forming a sort of rattle.
Wiktionary
- n. Descending by means of a rope, abseiling.
- v. obsolete to call back a hawk
- v. to abseil
- n. military The beat of the drum to call soldiers to arms.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mil.) The beat of the drum to call soldiers to arms.
WordNet 3.0
- v. lower oneself with a rope coiled around the body from a mountainside
- n. (mountaineering) a descent of a vertical cliff or wall made by using a doubled rope that is fixed to a higher point and wrapped around the body
Etymologies
- French. Compare repeal. (Wiktionary)
- French, recall, return, rappel, from Old French, recall, from rapeler, to recall : re-, re- + apeler, to summon; see appeal. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But now Michelle has a problem she can't blame on her competitors: She must rappel down the side of a skyscraper, and she's afraid of heights.”
“There was just enough slack in the umbilical to allow him to plant his feet on the railing and lean back as if he was about to rappel into the water.”
“And it turns out that Cashman's decisions last winter to rappel down buildings in Stamford, Conn., and guest bartend at charity events had little to do with whether he wanted to remain as general manager of the Yankees.”
The Wall Street Journal: Yanks Lock Up the Architect, a Day After the Ace
“And the easiest thing on it is a hard 5.9. yeah, I had my ass kicked, but afterwards we ate pizza, and I did learn to rappel.”
it's amazing how much being hard at work can look like staring out the window between watching youtu
“Tuesday, September 21, 2010 un rappel un rappel (rah pel) noun, masculine”
“It was a 5.7 on a big old slab, and The Jeff had to rappel down to set it (he is so very multitalented) and I am grateful, because hey!”
“Soon after the school opened, I signed up and learned how to belay and rappel, and about the play of rock climbing on the senses: the clink of the hammer on a piton, the warmth of the sunlit granite under my hand, the radiant clouds sailing overhead.”
“Reports now indicate that Navy seals were used to rappel down from helicopers onto the apartment compound.”
“It has a rappel gun, a regular gun, smoke bombs, and a taser built into it.”
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Tom’s Review Forum
“Meanwhile, that whole paragraph and the next, or at least the part starting from “Beside the man, the rope he had used to rappel,” until “Never trust homemade equipment” seems … Well, it seems like something we should have seen rather than been told about now.”
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Dr Eagle G’s Review Forum
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rappel’.
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Americanism
American words
finest, fast food, acclimate, aluminum, alphabetize, airplane, affirmative action, arugula, backhoe, bangs, base board, bayou and 162 more...
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phrontistery-r
from phrontistery.info
raad, rabanna, rabbet, rabble, Rabelaisian, rabic, racemation, raceme, racemiferous, rach, rachidian, rachiometer and 514 more...
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Climbing lingo
Lingo that immediately classifies you as a climbing insider
crimp, gaston, beta, sherpa, Bonnington, Chouinard, The Gunks, hexentrics, The Dru, Black Ice Culoir, Fitzroy, Black Diamond Equ... and 38 more...
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CCel
chattel, channel, kennel, duffel, tunnel, ginnel, fennel, stannel, flannel, scrannel, trunnel, waggel and 24 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, R
retinol, rectory, rhubarb, rancor, recension, rood, redivivus, roborate, redound, ripsnorting, ragtag, recruit and 250 more...
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