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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

dap.

A plimsoll.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/dæp/
  1. A plimsoll.

    Wales · West-Country · plural-normally
  2. A notch cut in one timber to receive another.

  3. Vulva or vagina.

    slang
Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic, from the sound made when a person runs while wearing daps.

verb/dæp/
  1. To run or go somewhere quickly.

    I'll just dap down to the shop.
  2. To create a hollow indentation.

  3. To drop the bait gently onto the surface of the water.

Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic, from the sound made when a person runs while wearing daps.

noun/dæp/
  1. Elaborate handshake, especially hooking thumbs.

  2. A fist bump.

Where this word comes from

US 1971, originally by black soldiers during the Vietnam war, associated with Black Power movement. Originally an elaborate handshake, later specifically a fistbump. Verb originally give dap. Presumably onomatopoeic, or influenced by tap, dab, etc. Alternatively, from earlier slang usage as abbreviation of dapper. Also explained as an acronym, such as “Dignity for Afro People” or “Dignity And Pride”; this may be a backronym or unrelated, but accords with phrasal use as “give DAP” (compare “give respect”). More speculative etymologies derive it from Vietnamese đẹp (“beautiful”), though this is unlikely.

verb/dæp/
  1. To greet with a dap.

Where this word comes from

US 1971, originally by black soldiers during the Vietnam war, associated with Black Power movement. Originally an elaborate handshake, later specifically a fistbump. Verb originally give dap. Presumably onomatopoeic, or influenced by tap, dab, etc. Alternatively, from earlier slang usage as abbreviation of dapper. Also explained as an acronym, such as “Dignity for Afro People” or “Dignity And Pride”; this may be a backronym or unrelated, but accords with phrasal use as “give DAP” (compare “give respect”). More speculative etymologies derive it from Vietnamese đẹp (“beautiful”), though this is unlikely.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.