Word.ws English Dictionary

slap

/slæp/

slap noun: a blow, especially one given with the open hand, or with something broad and flat.

slap: a blow, especially one given with the open hand, or with something broad and flat
Image: 8joKeaton, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

slap (countable and uncountable, plural slaps)

  1. (countable) A blow, especially one given with the open hand, or with something broad and flat.
    • He gave me a friendly slap on the back as a sign of camaraderie.
  2. (countable) A sharp percussive sound like that produced by such a blow.
    • the slap of my feet on the bathroom tiles
  3. (countable) The percussive sound produced in slap bass playing.
    • Havens goes into the terrific Freedom for an encore, which will turn out to be a highlight of the movie; its chopped guitar and conga slaps pre-empt late 90s R&B.2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “'Groovy, groovy, groovy': listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in The Guardian
  4. (slang, uncountable) Makeup; cosmetics.
    • Well, she schlumphed her Vera down the screech at a rate of knots, zhooshed up the riah, checked the slap in the mirror behind the bar, straightened up one ogle fake riah that had come adrift, and bold as brass orderlied over as fast as she could manage in those bats and, in her best lips, asked...1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 123
    • If you had too much slap on when you went out . . . your mates say too much slap on your ecaf. Yeah. Oh really girl? Yes . . . Go in the lavs here and have a look.Quoted in 2006, Matt Houlbrook, Queer London (page 151)
  5. (countable, slang) An eye-catching sticker used in street art.
    • […] which seek to retake public space for their own expression, using graffiti, stickering, 'slaps' and street art to dissent from the commercialisation of the public sphere.2019, Saskia Hufnagel, Duncan Chappell, The Palgrave Handbook on Art Crime, page 859

Verb

slap (third-person singular simple present slaps, present participle slapping, simple past and past participle slapped)

  1. (transitive) To strike someone, typically with an open hand, often on the face.
    • She slapped him in response to the insult.
  2. (transitive) To cause something to strike soundly.
    • He slapped the reins against the horse's back.
  3. (intransitive) To strike soundly against something.
    • The rain slapped against the window-panes.
    • Mrs. Flanders rose, slapped her coat this side and that to get the sand off, and picked up her black parasol.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
  4. (intransitive, slang, stative, African-American Vernacular) To be excellent, especially when relating to music.
    • The band's new single slaps.
    • There are some cinematic elements, but at the end of the day, the album fucking slaps.2019, “Glass Battles”, in PT Music Watch, number 1, page 35
  5. (transitive) To place, to put carelessly.
    • We'd better slap some fresh paint on that wall.
    • Louise Belcher: "On Monday there was supposed to be some big schoolboard inspection or something, so instead of cleaning the place up, what does the principal do? He panics. He and the janitor and the janitor's brother slap a wall where the door used to be."
    • Gene Belcher: "Wall slap."2018, “The Secret Ceramics Room of Secrets”, in Bob's Burgers
  6. (figuratively, informal, transitive) To impose a penalty, etc. on (someone).
    • I was slapped with a parking fine.
    • As part of Switzerland's direct democratic system, voters will also be weighing in on whether to slap new taxes on the super-rich to help finance the country's effort against climate change.2025 November 27, “Swiss to vote on compulsory civic duty for all”, in France24 News
  7. (informal, transitive) To play slap bass on (an instrument).
    • With no drums, Black began slapping his bass to keep time while Moore's guitar leaped in and out of the melody line.2007, Jon Paulien, The Gospel from Patmos

Adverb

slap (not comparable)

  1. Exactly, precisely
    • He tossed the file down slap in the middle of the table.
    • You just take my orders, Cap’n Hawkins, and we’ll sail slap in and be done with it.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

Adjective

slap (comparative more slap, superlative most slap)

  1. (UK, slang) Very good, excellent, amazing.
    • These cookies are slap.

Noun (2) capitalized: SLAP

SLAP

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of superior labrum from anterior to posterior.

slap meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

slap in Hindi

A blow dealt with the open hand
चांटा cāṇṭā, चाँटा cā̃ṭā, थप्पड़ thappaṛ, झापड़ jhāpaṛ, चपेट capeṭ, तमाचा tamācā
to give a slap
थप्पड़ मारना thappaṛ mārnā

slap in Marathi

A blow dealt with the open hand
चापट cāpaṭ, चपराक caprāk, थप्पड thappaḍ

slap in Urdu

A blow dealt with the open hand
چانٹا cā̃ṭā, تھپڑ thappaṛ
to give a slap
تھپڑ مارنا thappaṛ mārnā

slap in Bengali

থাপ্পড়, থপ্পড়, চড় মারার জন্য
More languagesFewer languages
slap in Telugu
చెంపదెబ్బ కొట్టడానికి
slap in Kannada
ಕಪಾಳಮೋಕ್ಷ, ಕಪಾಳಮೋಕ್ಷ ಮಾಡಲು
slap in Punjabi
ਥੱਪਡ਼, ਥੱਪਡ਼ ਮਾਰੋ, ਥੱਪਡ਼ ਮਾਰਨਾ
slap in Gujarati
થપ્પડ, થપ્પડ મારવી, થપ્પડ મારવા માટે
slap in Odia
ଥପ୍ପଡ଼, ଚାପୁଡ଼ା ମାରିବା, ଥପ୍ପଡ଼ ମାରିବା
slap in Assamese
চৰ sor, থাপৰ thapor, চৰিওৱা soriüa
slap in Nepali
थप्पड, थप्पड़, थप्पड लगाउन
slap in Tagalog
sampal
slap in Arabic
صَفْعَة ṣafʕa, لَطْمَة laṭma, صَفَعَ ṣafaʕa, لَطَمَ laṭama
slap in Indonesian
tamparan, menampar
slap in Persian
سیلی sili, سیلی زدن sili zadan
slap in Vietnamese
tát, vỗ, vả

Examples of slap in a sentence

  • 2016's 'Girls Like Me' still slaps to this day.2019 November, Elly Watson, “The Great 2019 Debate”, in DIY, page 59:
  • Extremely stupid but extremely catchy, with the squelchiest synth I’ve ever heard, it slaps in the simplest way a song can slap.2025 December 25, Claire Biddles, “Paranoia, pop-dubstep and perfectly odd gems: the best old music we discovered this year”, in The...
  • But despite our misgivings, this show still absolutely slaps[.]2025 December 26, Stuart Heritage, “Stranger Things season five vol 2 review – the fact that this isn’t unbearable is a miracle”, in The...
  • They called the tom-cat to the trap, / Who molrowed as he smelt at the door, O— / Opened his mouth and swallowed him slap, / All the while most profanely he swore, O!1864, Tony Pastor, John F. Poole, Tony Pastor's Complete Budget of Comic Songs, page 63:

All 40 example sentences with slap

Synonyms of slap

6 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of slap

Forms of slap

Noun
pluralslaps
Verb
third-person singular presentslaps
present participleslapping
past participleslapped
pastslapped
Adjective
comparativemore slap
superlativemost slap

Past tense of slap: slapped

Plural of slap: slaps

Origin of slap

From Middle English slappen, of uncertain origin, possibly imitative. Compare Low German Slappe (“slap”), whence also German Schlappe (“defeat”). Compare also Italian sleppa (“slap”).

Words formed from slap

Phrases with slap

12 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with slap

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about slap

What does slap mean?
Slap means a blow, especially one given with the open hand, or with something broad and flat.
What is slap in Hindi?
Slap in Hindi is चांटा (cāṇṭā), चाँटा (cā̃ṭā), थप्पड़ (thappaṛ). See Slap meaning in Hindi.
How do you use slap in a sentence?
2016's 'Girls Like Me' still slaps to this day.
What part of speech is slap?
Slap can be a noun, a verb, an adverb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce slap?
Slap is pronounced /slæp/.
What is the plural of slap?
The plural of slap is slaps.

Words near slap in the dictionary

  1. slants
  2. slants of wind
  3. slantways
  4. slantwise
  5. slanty
  6. slap
  7. slap and tickle
  8. slap around
  9. slap bang
  10. slap bass
  11. slap bellies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: slap (page history and authors); SLAP (page history and authors); slap (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slap (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slap (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slap (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slap (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slap (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slap (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-ca-slap.oga, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-slap.wav.

Cite this entry: “slap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.