Definitions

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

  • noun An elaborate gesture of greeting developed by African American soldiers during the Vietnam War, usually consisting of a handshake and other maneuvers such as hand slaps and a fist bump.
  • noun A fist bump.
  • transitive verb To greet by means of a dap.
  • intransitive verb To fish by letting a baited hook fall gently onto the water.
  • intransitive verb To dip lightly or quickly into water, as a bird does.
  • intransitive verb To skip or bounce, especially over the surface of water.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In angling, to drop or let fall the bait gently into the water.

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

  • intransitive verb (Angling) To drop the bait gently on the surface of the water.

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

  • noun Wales, usually in plural A plimsoll
  • verb To run or go somewhere quickly.
  • verb Dap describes special examples of dipping, dabbing, or bouncing actions.

Etymologies

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

[African American Vernacular English, of unknown origin.]

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

[Probably alteration of dab.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Onomatopoeic, from the sound made when a person runs while wearing daps.

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Examples

  • Whether it is the hand dap, which is diasporically universal, or the ease with which Barack's strength is complimentary, not in competition with Michelle's, they have forced America to acknowledge the beauty and humanity of the black family.

    Jeff Johnson: Got Change? 2008

  • He possesses the kind of elegance that in a different age would have been described as dap-per.

    Broken Music, A Memoir Sting 2003

  • In Sagada, Agawa, Takong, and near-by pueblos the a'-to is said to be known as dap'-ay; and in Balili and Alap both names are known.

    The Bontoc Igorot Albert Ernest Jenks 1911

  • Most outrageous: terrorist fist jab: a knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or "dap", traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement and described as "the terrorist fist jab" by newscaster E.

    6 posts from January 2009 2009

  • Most outrageous: terrorist fist jab: a knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or "dap", traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement and described as "the terrorist fist jab" by newscaster E.

    Word of the Year 2009

  • Most outrageous: terrorist fist jab: a knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or "dap", traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement and described as "the terrorist fist jab" by newscaster E.

    Word of the Year 2009

  • Worst of all, I'm sad to report that all Rising Tide participants are now under suspicion because of last year's convention graphic, which looks like an invitation to "dap":

    Archive 2008-06-01 2008

  • Worst of all, I'm sad to report that all Rising Tide participants are now under suspicion because of last year's convention graphic, which looks like an invitation to "dap":

    Your Right Hand Thief 2008

  • - Most outrageous: terrorist fist jab, a knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or "dap," traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement and described as "the terrorist fist jab" by newscaster E.

    John Tepper Marlin: Word of the Year 2008: "Bailout" (In Use, 1970s) 2009

  • If anything, the arrests of Shakur, Flavor Flav and Snoop Doggy Dogg demonstrate how little power, or "dap," rap actually has in the real world.

    Criminal Records 2008

Comments

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  • “But some sociologists pointed out that African-American boys and men have been hugging as part of their greeting for decades, using the word “dap” to describe a ritual involving handshakes, slaps on the shoulders and, more recently, a hug, also sometimes called the gangsta hug among urban youth.”

    The New York Times, For Teenagers, Hello Means ‘How About a Hug?’, by Sarah Kershaw, May 27, 2009

    May 28, 2009

  • A fist bump according to NPR's Says You!.

    February 28, 2015

  • "When he saw me, it wasn’t a traditional handshake,” said Barrett, founder and CEO of the KLEO Community Family Life Center, which sits near the library site. “It was actually a dap, where we shook hands and patted on the back at the same time."

    Wash. Post, March 26, 2017

    March 26, 2017