dap

¹

[ dap ]

verb (used without object)

, dapped, dap·ping.

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.

verb (used with object)

, dapped, dap·ping.

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

[ dap ]

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.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to greet, congratulate, or express solidarity with (a person) in this way (often followed by up ): 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

/ 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

DAP

²

abbreviation for

1. distributed array processor

dap

³

/ dæp /

noun

1. dialect.
   another word for plimsoll

Word History and Origins

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of dap¹

C17: of imitative origin

Origin of dap²

C20: probably special use of dap ¹(in the sense: to bounce, skip)

Example Sentences

The writer of this article is an employee of DAP Health.

From Los Angeles Times

Hill teased discussion of Obama dap: ‘A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab?’

From Slate

“Sing Sing” also stars former incarcerated actors Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, Sean “Dino” Johnson, David “Dap” Giraudy and Patrick “Preme” Griffin as themselves.

From Los Angeles Times

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

When the brand was called out, they made amends by building Dap – Gucci's Dapper Dan atelier – in Harlem.

From Salon