slap on the back
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Washington cared a lot about appearances and made sure that he presented himself as a formidable, dignified figure, not someone you’d slap on the back on a whim.
From Slate • Feb. 16, 2026
"I think memberships need to get revoked way more, because a lot of the time it's just a slap on the back of the hand and you go back."
From BBC • Feb. 14, 2023
As they passed each other, after Roberts’s media session and before Hinch’s, they exchanged a slap on the back and a fleeting hello.
From Washington Post • Dec. 10, 2019
“This has been that big slap on the back we never got, ” he said, referring to the popular, critical and financial affirmation that wasn’t always apparent throughout the group’s hard-working history.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2017
Outside the captain’s office, Officer Delinko’s sergeant gave him a hearty slap on the back.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
