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pop

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "pop"

English

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Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English pop, poppe (“a blow; strike; buffet”) (> Middle English poppen (“to strike; thrust”, verb)), of onomatopoeic origin – used to describe the sound, or short, sharp actions. The physics sense is part of a facetious sequence "snap, crackle, pop", after the mascots of Rice Krispies cereal.

Noun

pop (countable and uncountable, plural pops)

  1. (countable) A loud, sharp sound, as of a cork coming out of a bottle, especially when the contents are pressurized by fizziness.
    Coordinate term: cloop
    Listen to the pop of a champagne cork.
  2. (uncountable, regional, Midwestern US, Canada, Inland Northern American, Midlands, Northwestern US, Western Pennsylvania, Northern England) An effervescent or fizzy drink, most frequently nonalcoholic; soda pop.
    Lunch was sandwiches and a bottle of pop.
    • 1923, Ben Turner, “Estate Duty”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons)‎, column 186:
      You have not taken anything off "pop" yet, and "pop" is the working-class drink. For the working-classes it is "pop" and cockles, just as with the upper classes it is champagne and oysters.
    • 1941 September 8, LIFE, page 27:
      The best thing on the table was a tray full of bottles of lemon pop.
  3. (countable, regional, Midwestern US, Inland Northern American, Northwestern US, Canada, Western Pennsylvania) A bottle, can, or serving of effervescent or fizzy drink, most frequently nonalcoholic; a soda pop.
    Go in the store and buy us three pops.
  4. A pop shot: a quick, possibly unaimed, shot with a firearm.
    The man with the gun took a pop at the rabbit.
  5. (colloquial, in the phrase "a pop") A quantity dispensed; a portion; apiece.
    They cost 50 pence a pop.
    • 2008 January–February, Matt Bean, “Your cultural calendar: 7 things to look forward to this year”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 134:
      British rockers Radiohead solved the "music is dead" dispute last year by allowing fans to name a price for the group's new album, In Rainbows. (More than a million albums sold in the first week alone, at an average $8 a pop).
  6. Something that stands out or is distinctive to the mind or senses.
    a white dress with a pop of red
    a pop of vanilla flavour
    • 2023 November 4, Kim Duong, Megan Uy, Tarah-Lynn Saint-Elien, “22 Best Shackets to Get You Through the Chilly Fall Weather”, in Cosmopolitan‎:
      Nothing screams fall like corduroy! I'm loving this deep seafoam green shacket—made of the thick, ribbed material—that'll give a fab pop of color to a muted ensemble.
  7. (computing) The removal of a data item from the top of a stack.
    • 2011, Mark Lutz, Programming Python, page 1371:
      Pushes and pops change the stack; indexing just accesses it.
  8. A bird, the European redwing.
  9. (physics) The sixth derivative of the position vector with respect to time (after velocity, acceleration, jerk, jounce, crackle), i.e. the rate of change of crackle.
  10. (slang, dated) A pistol.
    • 1916, Adventure, volume 13, numbers 1-3, page 129:
      And then I got a shock, for a couple of ragged patriots standing close by, leaned over as Elliot moved, their eyes shining viciously, and quick as winking out came their pops, and I saw them ready and willing, yes, darned anxious to shoot.
  11. (US, mostly in plural) A small, immature peanut, boiled as a snack.
    • 1986, Mid-America Folklore, volume 14, page 6:
      Immature peanuts, called "pops," are often included when the peanuts are boiled at home […]
    • 2013, Becky Billingsley, A Culinary History of Myrtle Beach & the Grand Strand:
      If the peanuts weren't yet mature, boiling them would make the tiny nuts—or “pops,” as they're called at that immature stage—swell up and become more filling.
  12. (colloquial) Clipping of freeze pop.
    • 2017, Kenny Attaway, Black Cream: A Handful of Sky & a Pocketful of Confetti‎:
      Although they go by many names across the world freezer pop, ice-pole, pop stick icy-pole ice pop, tip top and ice candy but in the hoods of America they are known and respected as Freeze Pops. The pops are made by freezing flavored liquid such as sugar water, Kool-Aid or some form of fruit juice or purée inside a plastic tube - at least the kinds we ate.
  13. (colloquial) A lollipop.
  14. (professional wrestling slang) A (usually very) loud audience reaction.
  15. (music) The pulling of a string away from the fretboard and releasing it so that it snaps back.
Synonyms
  • (soda pop): see the list at soda
Translations

Verb

pop (third-person singular simple present pops, present participle popping, simple past and past participle popped)

  1. (intransitive) To make a pop, or sharp, quick sound.
    The muskets popped away on all sides.
  2. (ergative) To burst (something) with a popping sound.
    The boy with the pin popped the balloon.
    This corn pops well.
    • 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:
      The waves came round her. She was a rock. She was covered with the seaweed which pops when it is pressed. He was lost.
    • 2016 October 10, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, Oct 10, 2016:
      "To torture another metaphor, it would be the difference between slowly letting the air out of a balloon, and popping it. Though the dam metaphor is more apt, what with the excess magic flooding outward."
  3. (intransitive, with in, out, upon, etc.) To enter, or issue forth, with a quick, sudden movement; to move from place to place suddenly; to dart.
    Synonym: peek
    A rabbit popped out of the hole.
  4. (transitive, UK, Australia) To place (something) (somewhere); to move or position (something) with a short movement.
    Synonym: nip
    Just pop it in the fridge for now.
    He popped his head around the door.
    • 1986, Christina Rossetti, edited by Alfred Knopf, Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, Mix a Pancake, page 50:
      Mix a pancake,
      Stir a pancake,
      Pop it in the pan; […]
  5. (intransitive, often with over, round, along, in, etc.) To make a short trip or visit.
    I'm just popping round to the newsagent.
    I'll pop by your place later today.
    You wait in the car, I'm just gonna pop in the store.
  6. (intransitive) To stand out; to be distinctive to the senses.
    This colour really pops.
    • 2011 July 18, Robert Costa, “The Battle from Waterloo: Representative Bachmann runs for president”, in National Review:
      She also looked like a star - and not the Beltway type. On a stage full of stiff suits, she popped.
    • 2024 September 5, Beth Gillette, “24 Fall Hair Colors Every Celebrity Is Asking for Rn”, in Cosmopolitan‎:
      IK what you’re thinking: Why bright for fall? But it’s actually a great hack for making your hair pop a bit more against all those big black coats and jackets.
  7. (transitive) To hit (something or someone).
    He popped me on the nose.
  8. (transitive, slang) To shoot (usually somebody) with a firearm.
  9. (intransitive, vulgar, slang) To ejaculate; to orgasm.
    • 1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “Bang to Rites”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 219:
      Ah concur wi Sharon’s wishes n fuck her in the fanny. […] Ah think aboot how close she is tae poppin and how far up ah am, […]
  10. (transitive, computing) To remove (a data item) from the top of a stack.
    • 2010, Enrico Perla, Massimiliano Oldani, A Guide to Kernel Exploitation: Attacking the Core, page 55:
      Once the callee (the called function) terminates, it cleans the stack that it has been locally using and pops the next value stored on top of the stack.
    • 2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed:
      The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).
  11. (intransitive, slang) To give birth.
  12. (transitive, slang) To pawn (something) (to raise money).
    I had to pop my watch to see me through until pay-day.
    • 1773, The Westminster Magazine, Or, The Pantheon of Taste:
      I often used to smile at a young Ensign of the Guards, who always popped his sword and watch when he wanted cash for an intrigue; […]
    • 1878, Fun, volumes 27-28, page 92:
      Mr. Attenborough is naturally indignant at the accusation of Lord Truro that every pawnbroker keeps a smelting apparatus on the premises. He says the practice has been discontinued for many years, and our esteemed relative — the Universal Uncle — objects to the insinuation that when a thing is popped it goes to pot.
  13. (transitive, slang) To swallow or consume (especially a tablet of a drug, sometimes extended to other small items such as sweets or candy).
    • 1994, Ruth Garner, Patricia A. Alexander, Beliefs about text and instruction with text:
      We were drinking beer and popping pills — some really strong downers. I could hardly walk and I had no idea what I was saying.
    • 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135:
      31 pop some chocolate You'll stay sharp and focused for that final lunge toward the weekend. Milk chocolate has been shown to boost verbal and visual memory, impulse control, and reaction time.
  14. (transitive, informal) To perform (a move or stunt) while riding a board or vehicle.
    Pop a U-turn. You missed the turnoff.
    • 1995, David Brin, Startide Rising:
      Huck spun along the beams and joists, making me gulp when she popped a wheelie or swerved past a gaping hole...
    • 2009, Ben Wixon, Skateboarding: Instruction, Programming, and Park Design:
      The tail is the back of the deck; this is the part that enables skaters to pop ollies...
  15. (intransitive, of the ears) To undergo equalization of pressure when the Eustachian tubes open.
    My ears popped as the aeroplane began to ascend.
    • 2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 49:
      With its airtight seals, the pressure change as trains entered the black, dust-covered station areas caused our ears to pop and doors to flap and bang every time.
  16. (dance) To perform the popping style of dance.
    • 1985, “King of Rock”, performed by Run-DMC:
      Let the poppers pop and the breakers break / We're cool, cool cats, it's like that
  17. (transitive, slang) To arrest.
    He's on probation. We can pop him right now for gang association.
    • 2021, Brandon Taylor, “Filthy Animals”, in Filthy Animals, Daunt Books Originals, page 131:
      On the night Nolan got popped, the same cop delivered Milton home in the back of the cruiser, but didn’t turn the lights on.
  18. (music) To pull a string away from the fretboard and release it so that it snaps back.
  19. (African-American Vernacular, slang) To occur or happen.
    What's popping?
Translations

Interjection

pop

  1. A loud, sharp sound, as of a cork coming out of a bottle.
    • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 203:
      Pop, would go one of the eight-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech - and nothing happened.
    • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 2:
      So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.
Translations

Derived terms

Terms derived from pop (Etymology 1, all parts of speech)

Etymology 2

From papa or poppa.

Noun

pop (plural pops)

  2. (colloquial, endearing) One's father.
    My pop used to tell me to do my homework every night.
Derived terms
Translations
See also

Etymology 3

Clipping of popular or population.

Adjective

pop (not comparable)

  1. (used attributively in set phrases) Popular.

Noun

pop (uncountable)

  1. Pop music.
  3. Population.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 4

From colloquial Russian поп (pop) and Попъ (Pop), from Old Church Slavonic попъ (popŭ), from Byzantine Greek πάπας (pápas) (see pope). Doublet of pope.

Alternative forms

Noun

pop (plural pops)

  1. (Russian Orthodoxy, uncommon) A Russian Orthodox parish priest.
    • 1822, Mikhaïlov Vasiliï, Adventures of Michailow, section 4:
      There was at that time in the house of the Consul a Pop (or Russian Priest) named Iwan Afanassich.
    • 2001, Spas Raïkin, Rebel with a Just Cause, 292 n.28:
      The contemporary priest's... own children are ashamed and some abusers are openly "transmitting the pop" (a gesture of mocking the priest on the street, where a man would touch his private parts while smiling at other passers-by)
    • 2006, Peter Neville, A Traveller's History of Russia, section 123:
      By the end of 1809 she was declaring to all and sundry that she would sooner marry 'a pop than the sovereign of a country under the influence of France'. Since a pop was a Russian Orthodox parish priest, the reference was hardly likely to endear her family to the French.

Anagrams

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch pop.

Pronunciation

Noun

pop (plural poppe, diminutive poppie)

  1. doll

Albanian

Catalan

Danish

Dutch

Finnish

French

Hungarian

Indonesian

Jakaltek

Navajo

Polish

Portuguese

Romanian

Serbo-Croatian

Slavomolisano

Slovak

Spanish

Swedish

Tok Pisin

Turkish

Volapük

Welsh

West Frisian

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