pop1
/pɒp
/verb (pops, popping, popped)
1Make or cause to make a light explosive sound: [no object]: corks popped and glasses tinkled [with object]: teenagers were popping balloons with darts...
- I felt and probably looked like a balloon under pressure, about to pop if anything else filled my head.
- The drama for residents in nearby Bole Foot began at around 2am as they heard a series of loud bangs - caused by tyres bursting in the heat and air bags popping.
- His fists tightened until his knuckles popped and the girls' eyes widened.
Synonyms
go bang, go off with a bang, go off, crack, snap, burst, explode
1.1 [no object] (Of a person’s ears) make a small popping sound within the head as pressure is equalized, typically because of a change of altitude: my ears popped in the lift...
- At approximately 3,500m altitude, my ears pop, and the mild breeze filtering into the car becomes a cold torrent, and the ascent suddenly increases.
- Every now and then my ears would pop with the pressure, despite us having all our windows on the leeward side of the house open.
- Instantly his ears popped, and the pressure drained out of his head in a dizzying rush.
1.2 [with object] Heat (popcorn or another foodstuff) until it bursts open: the hot-air popper pops 4 quarts of popcorn in 5 minutes...
- One of the six ways to pop popcorn is with hot air.
- Upon returning to Heather's house, we went into her kitchen and raided it for chocolate and popped popcorn.
- Sam was in the kitchen, popping popcorn by the smells of it.
2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] Go somewhere for a short time, often without notice: she popped in to see if she could help...
- Within minutes he popped back in the room with three cans of paint and some brushes.
- They popped in to see me and introduce themselves.
- My lovely friend Jane G has just popped in to work to see me.
Synonyms
go, drop by/in/into/round, stop by, visit
informal tootle, whip
British informal nip
2.1 [with object and adverbial of direction] Put or move (something) somewhere quickly: she popped a pen into her pocket...
- I popped my head up quickly and looked at Leon who was standing outside of the passenger side door.
- He took a quick look and popped the ball over with ease.
- He smacks his lips and pops another few berries into his mouth, clearly relishing their taste and their effect.
Synonyms
put, place, slip, slide, push, stick, rest, deposit, set, lay, settle, locate, install, drop, shove, hang, position, arrange
2.2 [with object] North American Release, open, or engage (something) quickly or suddenly: he pulled a can of beer from the refrigerator and popped its tab...
- Kevin opened up the refrigerator, popped the milk container open, and drank straight from the carton.
- Leaning in over the door, I played for a long moment with the idea of wiring the old girl and taking her for a spin, but settled for popping the hood release.
- He watched as she moved quickly toward her briefcase and popped the latch.
3 [no object] (Of a person’s eyes) open wide and appear to bulge, especially with surprise: the man’s eyes popped in disbelief...
- I could imagine Natalie on the other line, mouth wide open, eyes popping.
- He gave a shrill cry of pain as his eyes popped open wide.
- However, others look at us with eyes popping wide.
4 [no object] Appear brighter or more striking in juxtaposition with something of a different or complementary colour: she added a slick of red lipstick to make the outfit pop grey creates a calm, neutral backdrop that lets other colors pop...
- She would have the required tan to make the colours pop!
- I would also consider redoing most of the artwork's frames in darker wood finishes or using some color to make them pop more.
- I absolutely love how the color of your portable fireplace pops against the purple walls.
5 [with object] informal Take or inject (a drug): Williams had spent his life hitting the bottle and popping pills...
- He popped an aspirin and drank half a bottle of water, but his tongue still felt dry as sandpaper.
- And frankly, who wouldn't want to pop a few placid pills or love potions just to escape from the long list of wicked words mentioned above.
- He was, it seems, referring obliquely to the haze created by all those mind-expanding drugs the beautiful people popped, mainlined and smoked.
6 [with object] British informal Pawn (something): I wouldn’t ever sell it—I popped it...
- I had to pop the silver, dear.
noun
1A light explosive sound: there were a few pops, perhaps from pistols...
- We heard snapping sounds, pops, little explosions, and then the walls bulged out, and we heard a sound like an avalanche.
- I froze, gaping for a second until the sound of the detonation, a sharp pop at that distance, shook me out of it.
- The audio quality isn't the best, a lot of cracks and pops on it, but you know how that is with those old records.
Synonyms
bang, crack, snap, boom, explosion, report
2 [mass noun] informal, dated A sweet fizzy drink such as lemonade: a bottle of pop...
- The only food is crisps and chocolate, the only drink water, fizzy pop, Nescafe, or tea with powdered milk, and the only shopping is tat.
- We drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
- Consumers of bottled water tend to be more wealthy than those who drink fizzy pop.
Synonyms
fizzy drink, soft drink, carbonated drink;
North American soda
Scottish informal scoosh
2.1 [count noun] North American A can of sweet fizzy drink: fruit-flavoured pops...
- We ended up only putting the pops in the fridge and left the sandwiches on the middle row seat.
- You can buy some sprite and light beer or take some from your pops in the fridge and make a Shandy at home.
3A patch of bright colour: I like wearing a neutral outfit with one pop of yellow...
- Wow, those shoes are amazing- such a great pop of color!
- This time though I used a touch of gold for that pop of color.
- To start, Look 1 featured a noir suit jacket folded like leaf petals at the lapel to reveal pops of lime green.
4 (also pop fly or pop-up) Baseball A ball hit high in the air but not far from the home plate, providing an easy catch: he caught a pop fly for the third out of the seventh inning...
- Although brilliant with the glove, Power became a source of controversy because of the one-handed style that he used on ground balls and pop-ups.
- I would outlaw the current catchers' gloves which break in the middle, making it easier to catch pop-ups.
- A few wild swishes, a couple of pop-ups for easy catches, and then a mishit squeezed past first base is enough to keep a streak alive.
adverb
With a light explosive sound: the champagne went pop...
- I felt (and heard) something in my wrist go pop as I lifted Fiona out of her car seat.
- I raised the gun and fired a positively perfect shot - the only problem was that it went pop rather than bang.
- After the requisite chilling and hearing that satisfying noise of the cork going ‘pop’ I shall certainly raise a glass to your good health.
Phrases
—— a pop
have (or take) a pop at
make someone's eyes pop (or pop out)
pop one's clogs
pop the question
Phrasal verbs
pop off
pop up
Origin
Late Middle English (in the senses 'a blow, knock' and 'to strike'): imitative.
Like splash (early 17th century), crack (Old English), and bang (mid 16th century), pop imitates the sound it describes. It was first used to refer to a blow or knock, the ‘abrupt explosive noise’ meaning coming later. The phrase pop the question, meaning ‘to propose marriage’, is first recorded in the early 18th century. The fizzy pop that you drink gets its name from the sound made when the cork is pulled out. It was first mentioned at the beginning of the 19th century. To pop your clogs is to die. Pop here is used in the sense ‘to pawn’ (mid 18th century), the idea being that a person who has just died no longer has any need of their shoes or clogs and so they can be pawned. The phrase is recorded only from the 1970s, which is surprisingly recent—it may have been made up as an ‘imitation’ dialect expression, or be an example of a folk expression that existed for generations without being recorded in print. In reference to music, pop is short for popular (see people). The first mention of this pop was in 1910—‘a pop vaudeville house’—and pop songs were mentioned in Variety magazine during 1921. An issue of Melody Maker from 7 April 1956, gives us the first recorded mention of Top of the Pops, the best-selling recorded song or piece of music at a given time, although the first British singles chart was published in the 14 November 1952 edition of the New Musical Express. The BBC pop music programme Top of the Pops ran for 42 years from 1964 to 2006.
Rhymes
pop2
/pɒp/adjective [attributive]
1Relating to commercial popular music: pop singers a pop concert...
- His band have plenty of catchy, commercial pop tunes.
- Similar accusations were once leveled against Paul Simon after the commercial success of his pop album Graceland.
- Check out what your favorite pop idols have been up to.
2often derogatory (Especially of a scientific or academic subject) made accessible to the general public; popularized: pop psychology...
- Self-esteem as portrayed by the current generation of pop psychologists is nothing less than self-worship, narcissism.
- Red Dragon's goal of being a smart thriller is also tainted by the cheap and obvious pop psychology used to paint the characters.
- You should have no problem finding general interest and pop science articles on his work.
noun
(also pop music) [mass noun] Commercial popular music, in particular accessible, tuneful music of a kind popular since the 1950s and sometimes contrasted with rock, soul, or other forms of popular music: their quasi-psychedelic pop is pleasantly uplifting and danceable...
- From The Smiths to Nirvana, much of the best pop and rock music has been made by fans.
- Red Stage near City hall will feature pop and rock music with Thai ‘Luk Thung’.
- Alarm clocks were going off, playing rock, Christian pop, jazz or reggae.
Origin
Late 19th century: abbreviation of popular.
pop3
/pɒp/noun chiefly US
Informal term for father.But Blake grew accustomed to addressing my pop as his own dad....
- And thank you, very sincerely, to everyone who sent well wishes to my pops.
- Respect your moms, your pops, or whoever it was raised you.
Origin
Mid 19th century: abbreviation of poppa.
POP4
abbreviation
1Persistent organic pollutant.
2 (also PoP) Computing Point of presence, denoting equipment that provides access to the Internet.In addition, they pay for the right to place their PoP in the CO of the telecom company.
3(In the UK) Post Office Preferred, used to specify the size of envelopes and other items.
4 Computing Post Office Protocol.