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.

Anagrams

• BPO, OBP, PBO