backslap

American  

[bak-slap] / ˈbækˌslæp /

verb (used with object)

backslapped, backslapping

1. to subject to backslapping.

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verb (used without object)

backslapped, backslapping

1. to engage in backslapping.

noun

1. a hearty slap on the back given as a token of affability or congratulation.

   The bridegroom received many a warm handshake and backslap.

Etymology

Origin of backslap

First recorded in 1925–30; back ¹ + slap ¹

Example Sentences

Surveillance footage showed the backslap — more than a pat but less than a shove — apparently startling but not harming the 78-year-old leader of the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

From Washington Post • Jun. 27, 2022

But the eagerness to backslap Sandler for the type of puerile and incurious humor he’s been peddling for the past two decades is revealing on its own, too.

From Slate • Nov. 7, 2018

His idiom consists exclusively of backslap and bluster.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 21, 2015

Representatives of national associations mingled on a restaurant terrace to eat, drink and backslap with old colleagues.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2015

Analysts will be monitoring not only what is said — and what is not said — but every wink, nod and backslap that could feed the existing narrative of a bond between the two men.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2012