What does crapped mean?
"Crapped" is the past tense and past participle of the slang verb "crap," meaning to defecate. It belongs firmly to informal, colloquial register — the kind of word heard in everyday banter but avoided in polite or professional writing. Beyond its literal bodily sense, it carries a second, chiefly American meaning through the idiom "crap out": to break down, fail, or give up, as when an old car's engine crapped out on the highway. That usage traces back to the dice game craps, where rolling a losing combination is called crapping out, giving the phrase its connotation of bad luck or sudden failure. Related forms include the noun "crap" (both excrement and nonsense) and the adjective "crappy." Because of its coarseness, writers seeking a neutral tone generally choose more clinical alternatives, but "crapped" remains vivid, expressive, and unmistakably informal.
verb (past tense and past participle)Past tense of the verb "crap": to defecate. It is also used in the idiomatic expression "to crap out," meaning to quit, fail, or run out of energy or resources.
- To have defecated (slang/informal).
- To have failed, broken down, or given up, especially in the idiom "crap out" (e.g., an engine or plan that crapped out).
"The dog crapped on the carpet again."
"The engine crapped out halfway through the road trip, stranding them for hours."
"He was so nervous before the interview that he barely slept and felt completely crapped out by morning."
The same word that names a casino dice game also gave us a slang term for defecating — which is why "crapping out" can mean either losing at dice or simply giving up from exhaustion.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crapped
The verb "crap" first appeared in English in the mid-nineteenth century, apparently adopted from an older Middle Dutch word "krappe" meaning a torn-off scrap, which had earlier yielded the noun "crap" denoting refuse or waste. Its application to defecation spread through American slang in the early twentieth century. The failure sense, "crap out," derives independently from the game of craps, whose name itself descends from the older English game hazard via French crebs or crabs, a term for the worst throw of the dice.
Related word forms
How crapped is actually used
"Crapped" is distinctly informal or vulgar and should be avoided in formal writing and professional contexts. The defecatory sense is common in casual British and American speech, while the "crapped out" sense is chiefly American, borrowed from the gambling term for losing one's stake at craps.
Easily confused with crapped
"Craps" is a dice game, while "crapped" is the past tense of the verb meaning to defecate or to fail.
"Cropped" means cut short or trimmed (as with hair or images), whereas "crapped" relates to defecation or failing.