Meanings
yap1
nounyap (countable and uncountable, plural yaps)
plural yaps
- countableThe high-pitched bark of a small dog, or similar.
- slanguncountableCasual talk; chatter.
They couldn’t rise above their calls for peace. Those who weren’t “defenders of the fatherland” were incapable of anything except yap and blather about “stopping the war.”
1989, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts, August 1914, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 1901 more example
Had I taken his accusations seriously I might have recommended a change in my under-managership, but I never could translate our jammy products into gas or explosives or even poison. Still yap, at least as concerned Beldite's.
1939, Philip George Chadwick, The Death Guard, page 59 - countabledatedslanguncountableA fool.
verbyap (third-person singular simple present yaps, present participle yapping, simple past and past participle yapped)
present singular third person yaps · participle present yapping · participle past yapped · past yapped
- intransitiveslangTo talk, especially excessively; to chatter.
You’re always yapping, I wish you’d shut up.
Yap2
proper noun
- An island of the Caroline Islands, western Micronesia.
- One of the four states that composes the Federated States of Micronesia.
Yap3
proper noun
- A Chinese surname from Hokkien or Hakka.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
yap · noun, verb
Probably of imitative origin. Alternatively, from dialectal yap, yaup, yalp (“to yap, yelp”). More at yelp.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque Yap
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Bulgarian джавкане, джавкам
- джавкане (džavkane)high-pitched bark
- джавкам (džavkam)of a small dog, to bark
- дърдоря (dărdorja)slang: to talk, especially excessively
- Яп (Jap)an island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Catalan Yap
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Chinese Mandarin 雅浦, 雅蒲
- 雅浦 (Yǎpǔ)an island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
- 雅蒲 (Yǎpú)an island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Czech štěknutí, ňafnutí
- štěknutíhigh-pitched bark
- ňafnutíhigh-pitched bark
- ňafatof a small dog, to bark
- štěkatof a small dog, to bark
- žvanitslang: to talk, especially excessively
- kecatslang: to talk, especially excessively
Dutch gekef, keffen
- gekefhigh-pitched bark
- keffenof a small dog, to bark
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Esperanto jelpo, jelpi
- jelpohigh-pitched bark
- jelpiof a small dog, to bark
- vortmuelislang: to talk, especially excessively
- blablaislang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Estonian Yap
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Finnish räksytys, räkytys
- räksytyshigh-pitched bark
- räkytyshigh-pitched bark
- räksyttääof a small dog, to bark
- lätistäslang: to talk, especially excessively
- pölistäslang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
French japper, japper
- japperhigh-pitched bark
- japperof a small dog, to bark
- jacasserslang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
German Japsen, Kläffen
- Japsenhigh-pitched bark
- Kläffenhigh-pitched bark
- Gekläffehigh-pitched bark
- kläffenof a small dog, to bark
Hebrew חָפַר
- חָפַר (ẖafár)slang: to talk, especially excessively
Hindi बकना
- बकना (baknā)slang: to talk, especially excessively
Indonesian Yap
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Irish sceamh, sceamh
- sceamhhigh-pitched bark
- sceamhof a small dog, to bark
Italian blaterare, Yap
- blaterareslang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Japanese きゃんきゃんほえる, ぺちゃくちゃしゃべる
- きゃんきゃんほえる (kyankyan hoeru)of a small dog, to bark
- ぺちゃくちゃしゃべる (pechakucha shaberu)slang: to talk, especially excessively
- ヤップ州 (Yappu shū)an island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Lithuanian Japas
- Japasan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Māori kapetau
- kapetauslang: to talk, especially excessively
Norwegian Yap
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Polish Yap
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Portuguese tagarelar, parolar
- tagarelarslang: to talk, especially excessively
- parolarslang: to talk, especially excessively
- palrarslang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Russian тяв-тя́в, тя́вканье
- тяв-тя́в (tjav-tjáv)high-pitched bark
- тя́вканье (tjávkanʹje)high-pitched bark
- тя́вкать (tjávkatʹ)of a small dog, to bark
- тя́вкнуть (tjávknutʹ)of a small dog, to bark
- болта́ть (boltátʹ)slang: to talk, especially excessively
- трепа́ться (trepátʹsja)slang: to talk, especially excessively
- Яп (Jap)an island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Scottish Gaelic bleadraig
- bleadraigslang: to talk, especially excessively
Spanish ladrido, gañido
- ladridohigh-pitched bark
- gañidohigh-pitched bark
- trinohigh-pitched bark
- quejidohigh-pitched bark
- gañirof a small dog, to bark
- cotorrearslang: to talk, especially excessively
- parlotearslang: to talk, especially excessively
- paluchearslang: to talk, especially excessively
- parlarslang: to talk, especially excessively
- vanearslang: to talk, especially excessively
- hablar por los codosslang: to talk, especially excessively
- bachillerearslang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Swedish gläfs, bjäbba
- gläfshigh-pitched bark
- bjäbbaof a small dog, to bark
- bjäfsaof a small dog, to bark
- småskällaof a small dog, to bark
- gläfsaof a small dog, to bark
- bjäbbaslang: to talk, especially excessively
- pladdraslang: to talk, especially excessively
- babblaslang: to talk, especially excessively
- Yapan island in the Caroline Islands of western Micronesia
Tamil வாயாடு
- வாயாடு (vāyāṭu)slang: to talk, especially excessively
Turkish zırvalamak, boş yapmak
- zırvalamakslang: to talk, especially excessively
- boş yapmakslang: to talk, especially excessively
- çene çalmakslang: to talk, especially excessively
- gevezelik etmekslang: to talk, especially excessively
Vietnamese bô bô
- bô bôslang: to talk, especially excessively
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yap
mapcapgapappwrapstraprapsnapsaplapunwrapoverlaprecapchapnapslapclapzaphapmishapknaplagniappeyappentrap
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
yap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yap
MLA
“yap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yap. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yap,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yap.
Source: yap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.