romp

present singular third person romps · participle present romping · participle past romped · past romped

1. intransitiveTo play about roughly, energetically or boisterously.

   sport (formal)

   1 more example

   When the kids're allowed to romp in the bedroom, they break something.

2. UStransitive(Often used with down) To press forcefully, to encourage vehemently, to oppress.

   If I romp down on the gas, it'll do sixty in six seconds.

   1 more example

   Coach Smith had to romp on 'em to get 'em out of a losing streak.

3. To make progress or win easily.

   I romped through my finals.

   2 more examples

   England romped to an easy win over Australia.

   Ronald Koeman collected that prize in the run-up to this game, and then watched his team romp to their biggest victory for nearly a century, inflicting a defeat that Sunderland will struggle to forget.

   2014 October 18, Paul Doyle, “Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter”, in The Guardian

   Antonyms: squeak

4. To move with little effort relatively quickly.

   We romped along with the wind astern.

   1 more example

   From Crewe, of course, the ten-coach load of 347/370 tons was a laughably easy proposition for the two engines, between them in effect making up Class "11" power, and they fairly romped away with the train.

   1959 October, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 477

5. slangjournalismTo engage in playful or illicit sex.

   This wasn't salacious, romping 'sex', tabloid style

   1997, Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture

   2 more examples

   Ladbrokes is offering 2-1 odds that contestants WILL romp in the ten-week show.

   2006, Martin Conboy, quoting The Sun, Tabloid Britain: Constructing a Community Through Language, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 204

   One young lady who had just romped with an A-List Hollywood star, panicked during my strategic silence and threw in an entirely unexpected line about how he'd enjoyed throttling himself with his tie.

   2010 May 13, Sharon Marshall, Tabloid Girl, Hachette UK, →ISBN

plural romps

1. archaicSomeone who romps; especially, a girl or young woman who indulges in boisterous play; a tomboy.First known use 17th c.

   I will venture to affirm, that a girl, whose spirits have not been damped by inactivity, or innocence tainted by false shame, will always be a romp, and the doll will never excite attention unless confinement allows her no alternative.

   1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC

2. A period of boisterous play, a frolic; now especially, a bout of sexual activity, especially when illicit.First known use 18th c.
3. An enjoyable, fast-paced but essentially inconsequential film, play, or other piece of entertainment.First known use 19th c.
4. hobbiesA decisive victory; a game, match etc. which is won easily.First known use 20th c.
5. collectiveA group of otters.

   There is a new romp of otters in Admirals Cove

   2026, Heide Island, Romp!: A Journey Through the Natural History of Otters and Why They Matter, Penguin Publishing Group, page 214

   1 more example

   From the promontory, their gaze encompassed the entire mouth of the Boyer River. Laurence, shivering beneath her sealskin cloak, pointed out the white bellies of a romp of otters disporting themselves in the water

   2007, Martine Desjardins, A Covenant of Salt, Talonbooks, page 79