pop

plural pops

1. countableA loud, sharp sound, as of a cork coming out of a bottle, especially when the contents are pressurized by fizziness.

   Listen to the pop of a champagne cork.

2. CanadaInland Northern AmericanMidlandsMidwestern USNorthern EnglandNorthwesternPennsylvaniaUSWesternregionaluncountableAn effervescent or fizzy drink, most frequently nonalcoholic; soda pop.

   Lunch was sandwiches and a bottle of pop.

   2 more examples

   You have not taken anything off "pop" yet, and "pop" is the working-class drink. For the working-classes it is "pop" and cockles, just as with the upper classes it is champagne and oysters.

   1923, Ben Turner, “Estate Duty”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), column 186

   The best thing on the table was a tray full of bottles of lemon pop.

   1941 September 8, LIFE, page 27

3. CanadaInland Northern AmericanMidwestern USNorthwesternPennsylvaniaUSWesterncountableregionalA bottle, can, or serving of effervescent or fizzy drink, most frequently nonalcoholic; a soda pop.

   Go in the store and buy us three pops.

4. countableuncountableA pop shot: a quick, possibly unaimed, shot with a firearm.

   The man with the gun took a pop at the rabbit.

5. colloquialcountableuncountableA quantity dispensed; a portion.

   They cost 50 pence a pop.

   1 more example

   British rockers Radiohead solved the "music is dead" dispute last year by allowing fans to name a price for the group's new album, In Rainbows. (More than a million albums sold in the first week alone, at an average $8 a pop).

   2008 January–February, Matt Bean, “Your cultural calendar: 7 things to look forward to this year”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 134

6. countableuncountableSomething that stands out or is distinctive to the mind or senses.

   a pop of vanilla flavour

   2 more examples

   a white dress with a pop of red

   Nothing screams fall like corduroy! I'm loving this deep seafoam green shacket—made of the thick, ribbed material—that'll give a fab pop of color to a muted ensemble.

   2023 November 4, Kim Duong, Megan Uy, Tarah-Lynn Saint-Elien, “22 Best Shackets to Get You Through the Chilly Fall Weather”, in Cosmopolitan

7. countableuncountablecomputingThe removal of a data item from the top of a stack.

   Pushes and pops change the stack; indexing just accesses it.

   2011, Mark Lutz, Programming Python, page 1371

8. countableuncountableA bird, the European redwing.
9. countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe sixth derivative of the position vector with respect to time (after velocity, acceleration, jerk, jounce, crackle), i.e. the rate of change of crackle.
10. countabledatedslanguncountableA pistol.

    And then I got a shock, for a couple of ragged patriots standing close by, leaned over as Elliot moved, their eyes shining viciously, and quick as winking out came their pops, and I saw them ready and willing, yes, darned anxious to shoot.

    1916, Adventure, volume 13, numbers 1-3, page 129

11. UScountablepluraluncountableA small, immature peanut, boiled as a snack.

    Immature peanuts, called "pops," are often included when the peanuts are boiled at home […]

    1986, Mid-America Folklore, volume 14, page 6

    1 more example

    If the peanuts weren't yet mature, boiling them would make the tiny nuts—or “pops,” as they're called at that immature stage—swell up and become more filling.

    2013, Becky Billingsley, A Culinary History of Myrtle Beach & the Grand Strand

12. abbreviationcolloquialcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of freeze pop.

    1 more example

    Although they go by many names across the world freezer pop, ice-pole, pop stick icy-pole ice pop, tip top and ice candy but in the hoods of America they are known and respected as Freeze Pops. The pops are made by freezing flavored liquid such as sugar water, Kool-Aid or some form of fruit juice or purée inside a plastic tube - at least the kinds we ate.

    2017, Kenny Attaway, Black Cream: A Handful of Sky & a Pocketful of Confetti

13. colloquialcountableuncountableA lollipop.
14. countableslanguncountablegovernmentA (usually very) loud audience reaction.
15. countableuncountableentertainmentThe pulling of a string away from the fretboard and releasing it so that it snaps back.

present singular third person pops · participle present popping · participle past popped · past popped

1. intransitiveTo make a pop, or sharp, quick sound.

   The muskets popped away on all sides.

2. ergativeTo burst (something) with a popping sound.

   This corn pops well.

   3 more examples

   The boy with the pin popped the balloon.

   The waves came round her. She was a rock. She was covered with the seaweed which pops when it is pressed. He was lost.

   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

   "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."

   2016 October 10, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, Oct 10, 2016

3. ergativefigurativelyliteralTo broach or open (something) in a way that is instantaneous or sudden and that often (literally or notionally) involves a popping sound; to remove (the closure, the lid or top) from something so as to open it in this manner.

   pop the hood

   5 more examples

   pop the cork

   pop the question

   pop the cherry

   Hey, you've got a bottle opener on your keychain, right? Would you pop this open for me please?

   You have to yank pretty hard on the handle to get this hood to pop.

4. intransitiveusuallyout; upon; out; uponTo enter, or issue forth, with a quick, sudden movement; to move from place to place suddenly; to dart.

   A rabbit popped out of the hole.

   5 more examples

   He that hath . . ./ Popp'd in between the election and my hopes.

   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

   I startled at his popping upon me unexpectedly.

   1712 January 20 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, 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

   So, diving in a bottomless sea, they [the Roman Church] pop sometimes above water to take breath.

   1626, John Donne, “On the Nativity”, in Sermons, section IV

   others again have a trick of popping up and down every moment from their paper, to the audience, like an idle schoolboy

   1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman

   When company comes, you are not to pop out and stare, and then run in again, like frightened rabbits in a warren.

   1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, section II

5. AustraliaUKtransitiveTo place (something) (somewhere); to move or position (something) with a short movement.

   Just pop it in the fridge for now.

   2 more examples

   He popped his head around the door.

   Mix a pancake, Stir a pancake, Pop it in the pan;[…]

   1986, Christina Rossetti, edited by Alfred Knopf, Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, Mix a Pancake, page 50

   Synonyms: nip

6. intransitiveoftenusuallyround; along; in; round; along; inTo make a short trip or visit.

   I'll pop by your place later today.

   2 more examples

   I'm just popping round to the newsagent.

   You wait in the car, I'm just gonna pop in the store.

7. intransitiveTo stand out; to be distinctive to the senses.

   This colour really pops.

   2 more examples

   She also looked like a star - and not the Beltway type. On a stage full of stiff suits, she popped.

   2011 July 18, Robert Costa, “The Battle from Waterloo: Representative Bachmann runs for president”, in National Review

   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.

   2024 September 5, Beth Gillette, “24 Fall Hair Colors Every Celebrity Is Asking for Rn”, in Cosmopolitan

8. transitiveTo hit (something or someone).

   He popped me on the nose.

9. slangtransitiveTo shoot (usually somebody) with a firearm.
10. intransitiveslangvulgarTo ejaculate; to orgasm.

    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, […]

    1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “Bang to Rites”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 219

11. transitivecomputingTo remove (a data item) from the top of a stack.

    The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).

    2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed

    1 more example

    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.

    2010, Enrico Perla, Massimiliano Oldani, A Guide to Kernel Exploitation: Attacking the Core, page 55

12. intransitiveslangTo give birth.

    Well, dear. You're ready to pop, aren't you? Little one's on its way.

    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)

    1 more example

    "Gavin told me one of his friends was pregnant, but my goodness, she looks ready to pop."

    2021 April 12, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 1362 - Prophecy

13. African-American VernacularTo sexually penetrate.

    Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get a Oscar?

    2004, “Why”, performed by Jadakiss

    1 more example

    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.'

    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

14. slangtransitiveTo pawn (something) (to raise money).

    I had to pop my watch to see me through until pay-day.

    2 more examples

    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; […]

    1773, The Westminster Magazine, Or, The Pantheon of Taste

    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.

    1878, Fun, volumes 27-28, page 92

15. slangtransitiveTo swallow or consume (especially a tablet of a drug, sometimes extended to other small items such as sweets or candy).

    We were drinking beer and popping pills — some really strong downers. I could hardly walk and I had no idea what I was saying.

    1994, Ruth Garner, Patricia A. Alexander, Beliefs about text and instruction with text

    1 more example

    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.

    2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135

16. informaltransitiveTo perform (a move or stunt) while riding a board or vehicle.

    Pop a U-turn. You missed the turnoff.

    2 more examples

    Huck spun along the beams and joists, making me gulp when she popped a wheelie or swerved past a gaping hole...

    1995, David Brin, Startide Rising

    The tail is the back of the deck; this is the part that enables skaters to pop ollies...

    2009, Ben Wixon, Skateboarding: Instruction, Programming, and Park Design

17. intransitiveTo undergo equalization of pressure when the Eustachian tubes open.

    My ears popped as the aeroplane began to ascend.

    1 more example

    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.

    2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 49

18. danceTo perform the popping style of dance.

    Let the poppers pop and the breakers break / We're cool, cool cats, it's like that

    1985, “King of Rock”, performed by Run-DMC

19. slangtransitiveTo arrest.

    He's on probation. We can pop him right now for gang association.

    1 more example

    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.

    2021, Brandon Taylor, “Filthy Animals”, in Filthy Animals, Daunt Books Originals, page 131

20. entertainmentTo pull a string away from the fretboard and release it so that it snaps back.
21. slangAfrican-American VernacularTo occur or happen.

    What's popping?

1. A loud, sharp sound, as of a cork coming out of a bottle.

   Pop, would go one of the eight-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech - and nothing happened.

   1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 203

   2 more examples

   "They tuk the ditch, you see, big as it is, in full sthroke; not a man o' thim was shuk in his sate, nor lost his rank; it was pop, pop, pop, ovir wid thim; and thin, hurra, away wid thim like shot acrass the High Field, in the direction o' the ould church."

   1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 520

   So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

   1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 2

plural pops

1. colloquialendearingOne's father or sometimes one's grandfather.

   My pop used to tell me to do my homework every night.

1. attributivenot comparablePopular.

1. uncountablePop music.

1. uncountablePopulation.

   GUNNISON 35.5m. (153 alt., 484 pop.), is larger than the usual plantation town, having several stores instead of one.

   2010 November 12, Robert S. McElvaine, The WPA Guide to the Magnolia State, page 349

plural pops · alternative pope

1. uncommonRussian OrthodoxyA Russian Orthodox parish priest.

   There was at that time in the house of the Consul a Pop (or Russian Priest) named Iwan Afanassich.

   1822, Mikhaïlov Vasiliï, Adventures of Michailow, section 4

   2 more examples

   The contemporary priest's... own children are ashamed and some abusers are openly "transmitting the pop" (a gesture of mocking the priest on the street, where a man would touch his private parts while smiling at other passers-by)

   2001, Spas Raïkin, Rebel with a Just Cause, 292 n.28

   By the end of 1809 she was declaring to all and sundry that she would sooner marry 'a pop than the sovereign of a country under the influence of France'. Since a pop was a Russian Orthodox parish priest, the reference was hardly likely to endear her family to the French.

   2006, Peter Neville, A Traveller's History of Russia, section 123

plural POPs

1. abbreviationacronymcountableenvironmental scienceAcronym of persistent organic pollutant.

   One commonly used POP (persistent organic pollutant), organochlorine, may be responsible for contaminating the world's seafood supply, since pesticides can run off the land into streams, lakes, and reservoirs.

   2009, Edward Group, Complete Colon Cleanse: The At-Home Detox Program to Restore Good Health, Boost Vitality, and Ensure Longevity, Ulysses Press, →ISBN, page 91

2. abbreviationacronymbroadcastingAcronym of picture outside of picture.
3. abbreviationacronymcountablecommunicationsAcronym of point of presence.
4. abbreviationacronymcountablebusinessAcronym of Point of Purchase.
5. abbreviationacronymclimatologyAcronym of probability of precipitation.
6. abbreviationacronymcountablesteroidsbiochemistryAcronym of progestogen-only pill or progestin-only pill.

1. abbreviationhistoricalinitialismInitialism of Pacific Ocean Park.

   The parachutes at Riverview Park will shake us up all day / And Disneyland and P.O.P. is worth a trip to L.A

   1965, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, “Amusement Parks U.S.A.”, performed by The Beach Boys

2. InternetabbreviationacronymAcronym of Post Office Protocol.

1. abbreviationacronymnot comparableAcronym of post office preferred, denoting a standard envelope size.

plural Pops

1. A social club and debating society at Eton College.
2. The body of college prefects.

plural Pops

1. in pluralA popular classical music concert.

   ‘You'll see our A B C soon. You know. The one we go to after the Saturday pops.’

   1916, Dorothy Richardson, Backwater

   1 more example

   As to the tall, curly-haired man, I suppose it was the one who was with me at the last Pop.

   1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC

1. UScolloquialentertainmentTraditional nickname for a stage doorman.

   […] George Melford (Pop, stage doorman) […]

   1999, Amy Dunkleberger, Patricia King Hanson, AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, page 216

   2 more examples

   “All the other stars would leave the theatre wearing fur coats, fancy hats, and imported French shoes,” said Pop Stern, a longtime stage-doorman.

   1982, Jhan Robbins, Front Page Marriage, page 186

   […] Ralph Sanford (doorman); A.S. “Pop” Byron (stage doorman); Allen Fox (photographer); […]

   2020, Edwin M. Bradley, Hollywood Musicals You Missed, page 65

plural PoPs

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecomputer securityInitialism of proof of personhood.
2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebusinessInitialism of package on a package.
3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecommunicationsInitialism of point of presence.