dap

¹ American  

[dap] / dæp /

verb (used without object)

dapped, dapping

1. to fish by letting the bait fall lightly on the water.

2. to dip lightly or suddenly into water.

   The bird dapped for the fish.

3. to bounce or skip, as on the surface of a body of water.

   The stone dapped along the surface of the pond.

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verb (used with object)

dapped, dapping

1. to cause to dip in and out of water.

   to dap one's bait.

2. to cause to skip along the surface of water.

   to dap stones across the river.

3. Carpentry. to notch (a timber) to receive part of another timber.

noun

1. Carpentry. a notch in a timber for receiving part of another timber.

dap ² American  

[dap] / dæp /

noun

1. a stylized gesture of greeting, congratulation, or solidarity in which two people join hands in a nontraditional handshake grip, bump fists, snap fingers, etc., often concluding with a one-armed hug.

   players giving dap and high-fives to fans after the game.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to greet, congratulate, or express solidarity with (a person) in this way (often followed byup ): Hey man, I haven’t seen you in ages—come over here and dap me up!

   When an old friend got assigned to my project at work, it was hard to know whether we should dap or shake hands.

   Hey man, I haven’t seen you in ages—come over here and dap me up!

dap ¹ British  

/ dæp /

verb

1. angling to fish with a natural or artificial fly on a floss silk line so that the wind makes the fly bob on and off the surface of the water

2. (intr) (as of a bird) to dip lightly into water

3. to bounce or cause to bounce

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DAP ² British  

abbreviation

1. distributed array processor

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dap ³ British  

/ dæp /

noun

1. dialect another word for plimsoll

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Etymology

Origin of dap¹

First recorded in 1575–85; probably variant of dab ¹

Origin of dap²

First recorded in 1970–75; originally African American Vernacular English and used by African American soldiers during the Vietnam War; further origin uncertain; perhaps a variant of dab ¹ ( def. ) or tap ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

They dap each other up as they criss-cross through the crowd and sing along to the music.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2025

Back at his familiar post, he had a chance to dap up old classmates from Lewiston High—Fazla had served as class president—as they came by for late-night snacks.

From Slate • Dec. 4, 2024

I shout, walking from behind the wooden counter reserved for the facility’s law clerks to the front area designated for the general population so I can dap him up.

From Slate • Sep. 17, 2024

The best example of this is the famous "Key & Peele" skit of President Obama reserving dap for skin folk and kinfolk alike while extending the standard handshake for white folks.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2024

Richard recognized a boy named Jamal sitting at the back of the bus and greeted him with a dap.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater