bop

See also: bóp, bớp, вор, BOP, and Bop

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɒp/
• Rhymes: -ɒp

Etymology 1

Imitative of the sound made.

Noun

bop (plural bops)

1. (colloquial, onomatopoeia) A very light smack, blow or punch.

Verb

bop (third-person singular simple present bops, present participle bopping, simple past and past participle bopped)

1. (colloquial, transitive) To strike gently or playfully.
   • 2013, Karin Tanabe, The List, page 37:

     “Better him than me,” I said while my mother fluttered her blue eyes at me and bopped me on the nose with a wooden spoon.

Synonyms

• bip, boop

Etymology 2

Shortened from bebop.

Noun

bop (countable and uncountable, plural bops)

1. (uncountable) A style of improvised jazz from the 1940s.
2. (countable, Britain, Oxbridge slang) A party.
   • 2005, Johnny Rich, Push Guide to Which University, page 472:

     Theatres; Music House used for bands; May Ball; very popular weekly bops in JCR and MCR; library (57,000 books); 40 networked PCs, 24-hrs.

   • 2012, Owen Jones, Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, page 120:

     At universities like Oxford, middle-class students hold 'chav bops' where they dress up as this working-class caricature.

Verb

bop (third-person singular simple present bops, present participle bopping, simple past and past participle bopped)

1. To dance to this music, or any sort of popular music with a strong beat.
2. (slang, intransitive) To have sex.
   • 2002, Tim Cockey, The Hearse You Came In On

     I'm here because your wife and I have been bopping like bunnies. Here are the pictures to prove it.

   • 2012, Terrence Oral Taylor, Dancing with the Boogie Man (page 196)

     […] You aren't the Boy Scout you pretend to be. I'll bet you two bopped all night long.” Colin shook his head. “You're wrong. We didn't.” “You just took her home?” “That's about it.”

Anagrams

• BPO, OBP, PBO