Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To bark sharply or shrilly; yelp.
  • intransitive verb Slang To talk noisily or stupidly; jabber.
  • intransitive verb To utter by yapping.
  • noun A sharp, shrill bark; a yelp.
  • noun Slang Noisy, stupid talk; jabber.
  • noun Slang The mouth.
  • noun Slang A stupid, crude, or loud person.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To yelp or bark.
  • noun A yelp, as of a dog.
  • noun A cur.
  • A dialectal form of yep.
  • See yaup.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A bark; a yelp.
  • intransitive verb To bark; to yelp.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The high-pitched bark of a small dog.
  • noun An informal talk.
  • noun The mouth, which produces speech.
  • noun Geordie A badly behaved child, a brat.
  • verb intransitive Of a small dog, to bark.
  • verb intransitive, slang To talk, especially excessively.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb bark in a high-pitched tone
  • noun informal terms for the mouth

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably imitative.]

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Examples

  • My little one does not yap, is not left outside when we are not home and our walls are high.

    Cats 2005

  • A perfect yap in other words and a charter member of the New Class of full time morality policeman.

    The Chimes at Midnight 2005

  • Sitting down and shutting your yap is the ONE thing that you should do, and it is clearly a very valid option since you are so well suited to it.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • And, after watching the Today Show segment that sprang from what seemed like a thoughtful blogger "round table," it turns out that, at least in the journalistic words of new Today Show co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, we're just a bunch of moms who "yap" about diapers and preschools on the web instead of at the playground.

    Joanne Bamberger: Katie Couric Gets it. Kathie Lee, Mmmm, Not So Much. 2008

  • But Tortorella's players did more to shut Hitchcock's "yap" than anything their coach said.

    USATODAY.com 2004

  • America may "yap" the loudest, but their sentiments are shared by almost all of China's neighbors who have even fewer ways to handle the situation, even if they not so outspoken about it.

    Top defense expenditure of the world Sun Bin 2005

  • Then she had heard the "yap" of Reddy Fox cut short in the middle and the roar of Bowser's big voice as he started to chase Reddy Fox.

    Mother West Wind's Children 1919

  • It lay there moaning, and every now and then it raised its head with a 'yap' of sheer fright, dreadful to hear, and bit the air, as if its enemies were on it again; and this fellow of mine lay in the opposite corner, with his head on his paw, watching it.

    Inn of Tranquillity John Galsworthy 1900

  • It lay there moaning, and every now and then it raised its head with a 'yap' of sheer fright, dreadful to hear, and bit the air, as if its enemies were on it again; and this fellow of mine lay in the opposite corner, with his head on his paw, watching it.

    Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works John Galsworthy 1900

  • It lay there moaning, and every now and then it raised its head with a 'yap' of sheer fright, dreadful to hear, and bit the air, as if its enemies were on it again; and this fellow of mine lay in the opposite corner, with his head on his paw, watching it.

    The Complete Essays of John Galsworthy John Galsworthy 1900

Comments

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  • Aw, shut yer yap.

    February 2, 2007

  • Pay in reverse.

    February 3, 2007

  • "I want to fix you up somewhere where you can have a bit of a home all to yourself. Let's see; Bonneville wouldn't do. There's always a lot of yaps about there that know us, and they would begin to cackle first off."

    - Frank Norris, The Octopus, bk 2, ch. 2

    August 26, 2008

  • Yarb, now you've gone and done it. *adds The Octopus to excruciatingly long reading list*

    August 26, 2008

  • It's very long, rt, and replete with arroyos, wheatfields, and drawn-out sunsets. I'm quite enjoying it now, but attempt with caution. Good for a vacation-read, I reckon.

    August 26, 2008

  • Thanks, yarb. Damn, I've already been on vacation.... ;-)

    August 27, 2008

  • ...and come Christmas this book will be ready for binding in limp yap and setting on your rich aunt's breakfast plate next the crumpled corn.

    - Stevie Smith, Novel on Yellow Paper

    February 23, 2009

  • Breadfruit variety from the island of Yap, Palau.

    February 16, 2010