raps
/ɹæps/
wraps is pronounced raps (/ɹæps/). Wraps is the plural noun or verb form of wrap, meaning something that covers or encloses, or the action of enveloping or enclosing. In everyday use, it often refers to scarves or coverings worn around the shoulders, or the act of winding material around something. The pronunciation is a single-syllable word with a final /s/ sibilant, distinct from the related verb ‘wrap’ in its plural form and third-person singular contexts.
Wraps is the plural noun or verb form of wrap, meaning something that covers or encloses, or the action of enveloping or enclosing. In everyday use, it often refers to scarves or coverings worn around the shoulders, or the act of winding material around something. The pronunciation is a single-syllable word with a final /s/ sibilant, distinct from the related verb ‘wrap’ in its plural form and third-person singular contexts.
"She buys wraps to keep warm in the winter."
"The burrito wraps are neatly folded and ready to eat."
"He wraps the gift with blue paper and ribbon."
Wraps is pronounced with a single syllable: /ræps/. Begin with an open front unrounded vowel /æ/ like ‘cat,’ then move to the bilabial stop /p/ as in ‘pat,’ and finish with the voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ for the /s/ at the end. The /r/ is a smooth, rhotic American-style /ɹ/ in US and UK accents. Lip closure for the /p/ should be quick and light; you should not release into a vowel because there isn’t another vowel. You’ll hear wraps as a crisp, quick syllable, unlike ‘wrap’ which ends with a /p/ stop. Practicing by tying the mouth quickly into a brief /æ/ then /p/ + /s/ is ideal.
Common mistakes include finishing with a delayed /k/ or adding a vowel after /p/, like pronouncing /ræpəz/ or /ræpəz/. Some learners voice the /p/ too strongly and release as a full stop, giving a harsher sound. The main correction is to end with a clean /s/ after a short /p/, with no vowel between /p/ and /s/. Keep your tongue at the alveolar ridge and avoid dipping into a following vowel. Practice the exact sequence /ræp/ then immediately /s/ without a vowel between.
In US/UK, wraps is /ræps/ with a rhotic /r/ and a clipped /p/ before the final /s/. UK non-rhotic speakers still have /r/ influence on preceding vowels but the /r/ itself is not pronounced as strongly; many will still produce /ræps/. Australian English usually keeps a similar /ræps/ pronunciation but with a slightly shorter vowel duration and crisper /s/. The main accent differences lie in how /r/ is realized and vowel length preceding voiceless consonants; the final /s/ is unvoiced and crisp across all three, but the preceding vowel can be slightly tenser in American speech.
It’s a single-syllable word with a final /s/ that follows a /p/ stop immediately after a high‑energy /æ/ vowel, which makes coordinating the tongue strike and the air stream tricky. The problem is maintaining crisp /p/ closure without adding a vowel or releasing into a voiceless sibilant with too much voicing. For non-native speakers, blending /æ/ into /p/ before /s/ can lead to a flighty /æ/ or an audible stop before /s/. Mastery comes from quick, compact tongue movement and a clean release into /s/.
The key is the seamless transition from the /p/ stop to the /s/ sibilant without an intervening vowel. This creates a very compact consonant cluster in a single beat. You should aim for a stable alveolar contact for /p/, immediate release, and a steady, unvoiced /s/—no voicing or aspiration on the /s/ that makes it hiss too much. Also, ensure your tongue isn’t overly retracted; keep a neutral tongue position so the /æ/ is crisp but not tongue‑tip heavy.
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Wraps derives from the verb wrap, which comes from Old English werpan, meaning to throw, turn, or twist. The sense evolved to mean enclosing or covering by winding around, which is reflected in the noun form wraps (the things that are wrapped) and the verb form wraps (as a present-tense third-person singular or plural form). The noun use (as in scarves or coverings) is attested in Middle English and became common in Modern English as materials or garments designed to be wrapped around a body or object. The single-syllable structure and the -s pluralization reflect typical English morphology. The word’s core meaning has remained stable: a wrap is something that covers by wrapping, and to wrap is to envelop by winding.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "wraps" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "wraps" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "wraps"
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