US /pæp/ UK /pæp/
noun verb Freq #18865

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    US dialect: father; pa

    Pap had not been seen in town for more than a year.

  2. 2
    noun

    soft or semi-liquid food, especially food prepared for an infant

    The baby was fed a warm pap made from bread and milk.

  3. 3
    noun

    worthless, bland, or oversimplified ideas or entertainment

    The article dismissed the program as sentimental pap.

  4. 4
    noun

    archaic: a breast or nipple

    The old anatomical description refers to a swelling beneath the left pap.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · us dialect: father; pa fatherpadad
2 noun · soft or semi-liquid food,... soft foodporridgepablum
3 noun · worthless, bland, or... pablumnonsensedrivel
4 noun · archaic: a breast or nipple nipplebreast
Word family
Derived forms pappy
Related forms papaporridgepapilla

Etymology

The father sense is a childlike shortening related to papa. The food and anatomical senses come through Middle English pap or pappe, probably from infant-directed or imitative speech for soft food and the breast; the figurative sense extends bland infant food to insubstantial ideas.

Topics

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