pop
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: pŏp
ipa: /pɒp/
enpr: pŏp
ipa: /pɑp/
rhymes: -ɒp
Forms: form: pops
form: popping
form: popped
form: popped
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: The muskets popped away on all sides.
glosses: To make a pop, or sharp, quick sound.
examples: text: The boy with the pin popped the balloon.
text: This corn pops well.
text: The waves came round her. She was a rock. She was covered with the seaweed which pops when it is pressed. He was lost.
ref: 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:
text: "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."
ref: 2016 October 10, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, Oct 10, 2016:
glosses: To burst (something) with a popping sound.
examples: text: A rabbit popped out of the hole.
text: He that hath . . ./ Popp'd in between the election and my hopes.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], line 65:
text: I startled at his popping upon me unexpectedly.
ref: 1712 January 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, January 10, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 271; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
text: So, diving in a bottomless sea, they [the Roman Church] pop sometimes above water to take breath.
ref: 1626, John Donne, “On the Nativity”, in Sermons, section IV:
text: others again have a trick of popping up and down every moment from their paper, to the audience, like an idle schoolboy
ref: 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman:
text: When company comes, you are not to pop out and stare, and then run in again, like frightened rabbits in a warren.
ref: 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, section II:
text: Lee Cheng popped on the phone line. "Right. I'm tracing it." More keytaps, this time with a few beeps thrown in.
ref: 1989, Clifford Stoll, The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage:
synonyms: peek
qualifier: out; upon; out; upon
glosses: To enter, or issue forth, with a quick, sudden movement; to move from place to place suddenly; to dart.
raw_tags: with in
examples: text: Just pop it in the fridge for now.
text: He popped his head around the door.
text: Mix a pancake,
Stir a pancake,
Pop it in the pan;[…]
ref: 1986, Christina Rossetti, edited by Alfred Knopf, Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, Mix a Pancake, page 50:
synonyms: nip
glosses: To place (something) (somewhere); to move or position (something) with a short movement.
examples: text: I'm just popping round to the newsagent.
text: I'll pop by your place later today.
text: You wait in the car, I'm just gonna pop in the store.
qualifier: round; along; in; round; along; in
glosses: To make a short trip or visit.
raw_tags: with over
examples: text: This colour really pops.
text: She also looked like a star - and not the Beltway type. On a stage full of stiff suits, she popped.
ref: 2011 July 18, Robert Costa, “The Battle from Waterloo: Representative Bachmann runs for president”, in National Review:
text: 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.
ref: 2024 September 5, Beth Gillette, “24 Fall Hair Colors Every Celebrity Is Asking for Rn”, in Cosmopolitan:
glosses: To stand out; to be distinctive to the senses.
examples: text: He popped me on the nose.
glosses: To hit (something or someone).
glosses: To shoot (usually somebody) with a firearm.
examples: text: 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, […]
ref: 1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “Bang to Rites”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 219:
glosses: To ejaculate; to orgasm.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2010, Enrico Perla, Massimiliano Oldani, A Guide to Kernel Exploitation: Attacking the Core, page 55:
text: The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).
ref: 2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To remove (a data item) from the top of a stack.
examples: text: Well, dear. You're ready to pop, aren't you? Little one's on its way.
ref: 2011 May 28, Matthew Graham, “The Almost People”, in Julian Simpson, director, Doctor Who, season 6/32, episode 6, spoken by Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber):
text: "Gavin told me one of his friends was pregnant, but my goodness, she looks ready to pop."
ref: 2021 April 12, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 1362 - Prophecy:
glosses: To give birth.
examples: text: A lot of Black men are deluding themselves into thinking they're not homosexual or bisexual, even though they are having sex with other men. They're not 'gay,' but sure, they've 'popped some sissies.'
ref: 1988 February 21, Dwight McGhee, quoting AIDS in the Black Community [1987], “Black PWAs Tell Their Stories”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 31, page 9:
text: Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get a Oscar?
ref: 2004, “Why”, performed by Jadakiss:
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: To sexually penetrate.
examples: text: I had to pop my watch to see me through until pay-day.
text: 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; […]
ref: 1773, The Westminster Magazine, Or, The Pantheon of Taste:
text: 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.
ref: 1878, Fun, volumes 27-28, page 92:
glosses: To pawn (something) (to raise money).
examples: 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.
ref: 1994, Ruth Garner, Patricia A. Alexander, Beliefs about text and instruction with text:
text: 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.
ref: 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135:
glosses: To swallow or consume (especially a tablet of a drug, sometimes extended to other small items such as sweets or candy).
examples: text: Pop a U-turn. You missed the turnoff.
text: Huck spun along the beams and joists, making me gulp when she popped a wheelie or swerved past a gaping hole...
ref: 1995, David Brin, Startide Rising:
text: The tail is the back of the deck; this is the part that enables skaters to pop ollies...
ref: 2009, Ben Wixon, Skateboarding: Instruction, Programming, and Park Design:
glosses: To perform (a move or stunt) while riding a board or vehicle.
examples: text: My ears popped as the aeroplane began to ascend.
text: 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.
ref: 2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 49:
glosses: To undergo equalization of pressure when the Eustachian tubes open.
raw_tags: of the ears
examples: text: Let the poppers pop and the breakers break / We're cool, cool cats, it's like that
ref: 1985, “King of Rock”, performed by Run-DMC:
topics: dance
dancing
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To perform the popping style of dance.
examples: text: He's on probation. We can pop him right now for gang association.
text: 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.
ref: 2021, Brandon Taylor, “Filthy Animals”, in Filthy Animals, Daunt Books Originals, page 131:
glosses: To arrest.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: To pull a string away from the fretboard and release it so that it snaps back.
examples: text: What's popping?
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: To occur or happen.