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dap

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dap¹

  • /dæp/

Rhymes with -æp

Where it comes from

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

noun daps

  1. Wales, West Country, plural normally A plimsoll. I somehow expected them to shout obscenities, and was glad I had come ordinarily dressed, in a sports shirt, an old linen jacket, jeans and daps.
  2. A notch cut in one timber to receive another.
  3. slang Vulva or vagina.

verb daps · dapping · dapped

  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.

dap²

  • /dæp/

Rhymes with -æp

Where it 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.

noun daps

  1. Elaborate handshake, especially hooking thumbs. ... where many officers look the other way when blacks ‘give dap’ (the power shake) ...
  2. A fist bump.

    Similar: dab

verb daps · dapping · dapped

  1. To greet with a dap.

DAP³

proper noun

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Democratic Action Party, a Malaysian centre-left political party.

noun DAPs

  1. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of digital audio player
  2. abbreviation, countable, initialism, slang, uncountable, vulgar Initialism of double anal penetration

phrase

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Delivered At Place

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Cite this
MLA

"dap." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dap. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dap. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dap

Chicago

"dap." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dap.

BibTeX
@misc{dap_2026,
  title = {dap},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dap},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}