yap
verb (used without object)
to bark sharply, shrilly, or snappishly; yelp.
yap
1 American
[yap]
/ jæp /
verb (used without object)
-
yaps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yapped,
past participle, past
-
yapping
present participle
-
to bark sharply, shrilly, or snappishly; yelp.
-
Slang. to talk shrilly, noisily, or foolishly.
verb (used with object)
-
yaps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yapped,
past participle, past
-
yapping
present participle
noun
-
yaps
plural
-
a sharp, shrill, or snappish bark; yelp.
-
Slang.
-
shrill, noisy, or foolish talk.
-
the mouth.
Keep your yap shut.
-
-
Slang. an uncouth or stupid person; bumpkin; fool.
Yap
2
American
[yahp, yap]
/ jɑp, jæp /
noun
yap
1
British
/ jæp /
verb
-
(of a dog) to bark in quick sharp bursts; yelp
-
informal to talk at length in an annoying or stupid way; jabber
noun
-
a high-pitched or sharp bark; yelp
-
slang annoying or stupid speech; jabber
-
slang a derogatory word for mouth
interjection
Yap
2
British
/ jɑːp, jæp /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
yapsimple
-
yapssimple
-
have yappedperfect
-
has yappedperfect
-
am yappingprogressive
-
are yappingprogressive
-
is yappingprogressive
-
have been yappingperfect progressive
-
has been yappingperfect progressive
Past
-
yappedsimple
-
had yappedperfect
-
was yappingprogressive
-
were yappingprogressive
-
had been yappingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yap
1595–1605; 1900–05 yap for def. 5b; imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There is a monthly meeting to discuss whichever book the group has chosen and another "scrap and yap" session, which focuses on book journalling and craft.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
One of the gassiest debates in the NBA—and this is a gassy sport, its obsessive followers will yap about it until the ears tumble off your head—concerns what player is the “Face of the Sport.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
At night, hungry coyotes yap and howl beyond the walls of Deborah’s ample, manicured yard.
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2025
So, when the birds don't move around or yap in open spaces, that makes things more challenging for the humans.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2024
“Gid- yap, let’s get a move on,” he said, encouraging the car up a hill.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
However, building a competitive artificial-intelligence enterprise cloud platform requires significant capex, Yap notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
“However, in our base case we expect the 10-year yield is more likely to fall from here,” Fook Hien Yap, investment strategist, said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
But Yap Lay Sheng, a senior human rights specialist with Fortify Rights, told AFP: "There's no telling how the regime would treat returnees."
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
“You have the power to choose coexistence over extinction,” Tiffany Yap, the center’s urban wildlands science director, told commissioners before the vote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
“In which case, we would make sure there was none. Yap, yap!”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
There were a few joggers and a couple of people fishing directly from the beach, but it was otherwise peaceful, punctuated only by the dull roar of lapping waves and Tobi’s occasional yaps.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2016
A small boy half-heartedly kicks a deflated plastic ball in and out of the parked cars and a dog, home alone in one of the terraced houses, repeatedly yaps his indignation.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2016
And yet it’s hard to deny the pleasure of watching somebody who yaps and yaps and yaps and then goes right out there and delivers on the yap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2015
"He is not a guy who yaps all the time, so what he says is usually pretty significant."
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2015
Goose’s hackles rose along her back, and she began to bark in high, terrified yaps.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
And as I feared last week, the guys in the booth yapped way too much, including talking over a mic’d up Tiger and Phil.
From Golf Digest ● Nov. 27, 2018
In the Madison Square Park dog run, we went unnoticed until a Pomeranian caught sight of us and yapped so rambunctiously that the seal and I took refuge in a nearby Starbucks.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 19, 2018
Both wagged their tails excitedly when someone came to their kennel and yapped sadly when that person walked away.
From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2017
Wall and his nemesis Dennis Schroder also yapped at each other as the teams departed for the locker rooms.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 16, 2017
Cassiopeia yapped in excitement, and then poked Beowulf, for her exclamation had sounded rather like his name.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Instead, I tune into my rhythmic footsteps and the medley of background noise from squawking birds, yapping passersby and whooshing traffic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
On the day we connected by phone, she expected a lot of activity in her Malibu home, including air-conditioning repairers and the usual four or five yapping dogs.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
I’m a part of the problem, too, yapping about this silly kerfuffle six months out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Horner, is the man whose in-your-face approach led Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff to describe him as a "yapping little terrier".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025
The Incorrigible Lumleys began their day’s to-doawoos by visiting Fern and Edward in the babies’ room, and offering some brief lessons in yapping, woofing, howling, burping, wiggling, napping, and other essential skills.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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