Slap Meaning
/slæp/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA blow, especially one given with the open hand, or with something broad and flat.
nounA sharp percussive sound like that produced by such a blow.
Sentence Examples
That kid got a slap from his mother for being rude.
His rude reply provoked her to slap him on the face.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the play, the actor had to pretend to ____ the other character across the face.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The sound of a ____ echoed through the quiet room as the actor performed the scene.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English slappen, of uncertain origin, possibly imitative. Compare Low German Slappe (“slap”), whence also German Schlappe (“defeat”). Compare also Italian sleppa (“slap”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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, if she could parker the omi a bevvy."
— 1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 123:
"[…] 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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the play, the actor had to pretend to ____ the other character across the face.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The sound of a ____ echoed through the quiet room as the actor performed the scene.