pop

Less common meanings

12. 12
    noundialectalCanadaInland Northern AmericanMidlandsMidwestern USNorthern EnglandNorthwesternPennsylvaniaUSWesternuncountable

    A sweet, carbonated, usually nonalcoholic soft drink; also, a bottle, can, or serving of such a drink; soda pop.

    Across the Midwest, people tend to order pop rather than soda.

    She kept the pop cold in a cooler all afternoon.

    UsageSay a bottle of pop, a can of pop or some pop.

    Similarsoda

    Note

    In 1923 Ben Turner told the House of Commons that pop was "the working-class drink," set against champagne. Which word people use, pop, soda or coke, is one of the best-known regional dividing lines in North American English.

13. 13
    take pillsverbslangtransitive

    To swallow or take a tablet, pill, or other small item, especially a drug, often quickly or casually.

    She popped a couple of vitamins with her breakfast.

    Some patients pop painkillers far too freely.

    UsagePop pills suggests taking them too casually or too often; pop a mint is neutral.

    Similartake, swallow, down

    Note

    The verb stretches to sweets as well. Men's Health in 2008 told readers to "pop some chocolate," and there the phrase loses its edge and simply means eating a small bite quickly. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Men's Health published the quoted advice in 2008, specifically its January–February issue. en.wiktionary.org
    • The advice used the exact words “pop some chocolate.” en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    nouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

    A hard candy mounted on a stick for sucking; a lollipop.

    The bank teller lets my son pick a pop from the candy jar every Friday.

    He unwrapped a grape pop and sucked on it during the long car ride.

    Similarlollipop, sucker, lolly

15. 15
    frozen tube treatnouncolloquialcountable or uncountableabbreviationellipsis

    Short for freeze pop: a frozen treat of sweet, flavored liquid sealed in a long plastic tube.

    We kept a whole box of pops in the freezer all summer.

    He bit the end off his pop and squeezed the ice up.

    Note

    The head noun stands in for the whole compound. Drop freeze, and the frozen tube of flavored ice is simply a pop, plural pops. Kenny Attaway's Black Cream (2017) lists its many rival names, including freezer pop, ice-pole, icy-pole, ice pop and ice candy, before settling on Freeze Pops. In casual talk the short form can blur with the word for a lollipop. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Pop is an ellipsis of freeze pop. en.wiktionary.org
    • Kenny Attaway wrote Black Cream. en.wiktionary.org
    • Black Cream lists the stated alternative names before calling the treats Freeze Pops. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    sound wordinterjection

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

    Pop! went the firecracker, and the children jumped back in surprise.

    Pop! The jar lid gave way as he twisted it open.

    UsageUsually Pop! with an exclamation mark, just before what happened: Pop! went the cork.

    Similarbang, pow

    Note

    Joseph Conrad writes "Pop, would go one of the eight-inch guns" in Heart of Darkness (1899), and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (1908) has a snout breaking through with "pop!" Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness, first published in 1899. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in the 1899 serial of Heart of Darkness, in Marlow's narrative. archive.org
    • Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind in the Willows, first published in 1908. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Wind in the Willows uses “pop!” as Mole's snout emerges into sunlight. gutenberg.org
17. 17
    shoot (gun)verbslangtransitive

    To shoot someone with a firearm.

    Gang members popped him in broad daylight.

    The boss hired a gunman to pop a rival.

    Similarshoot, cap, whack

    Note

    The object is nearly always a person, which sets this slang apart from the quick shot taken at a rabbit or a target. The gunshot's sound has given the word a noun for the shot, a noun for the weapon and this verb for the act. Because pop can also simply mean to hit, the context has to make clear that a firearm is involved. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Pop has related senses meaning a firearm shot, a pistol, and shooting someone. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    hitverbtransitive

    To strike something or someone with a quick, sharp blow.

    She popped him lightly on the shoulder to get his attention.

    Quit it, or I'll pop you one.

    UsageOften pop someone one (hit them once), or pop someone on the arm.

    Similarhit, punch, smack, tap, whack

19. 19
    ears clearverbintransitive

    Of the ears, to undergo a sudden equalization of pressure as the Eustachian tubes open.

    Her ears popped during the steep descent into the valley.

    Swallowing helps the ears pop on takeoff.

    Similarclear

20. 20
    number of peoplenoununcountable

    The number of people living in a particular area; population.

    The travel guide describes the county seat as a quiet town (pop. 9,000) with one main street.

    A faded sign at the edge of the tiny town still read "Elm Grove, pop. 412," though many of those people had long since moved away.

    UsageMostly written pop. before a number, as on town signs and maps: pop. 850.

    Similarpopulation

21. 21
    per itemnouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

    A quantity dispensed at one time; a portion or unit, often used to mean 'apiece' or 'each.'

    Concert seats were going for a hundred dollars a pop.

    At five dollars a pop, the fairground rides added up quickly.

    UsageUsed in the phrase a pop after a price or amount: ten dollars a pop.

    Similarthrow, go (entry)

22. 22
    verbslangtransitive

    To take into custody; to arrest.

    Officers popped the suspect as he left the building.

    Detectives planned to pop the dealer during the handoff.

    UsageOften passive, especially with get: get popped.

    Similararrest, bust, nab, collar, nick

    Oppositerelease

    Note

    Brandon Taylor's Filthy Animals (2021) recalls "the night Nolan got popped," with a cop driving another boy home afterward. The same verb can mean shot (the slang for shooting), so the surrounding sentence decides whether the person was arrested or hit by a bullet. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Brandon Taylor wrote Filthy Animals. penguinrandomhouseretail.com
    • Filthy Animals was first published in 2021. penguinrandomhouse.com
    • The book's narration contains the exact words 'the night Nolan got popped' and describes a cop bringing another boy home. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    board trickverbcolloquialtransitive

    To pull off a trick or maneuver on a skateboard or other board, or on a vehicle.

    The skater popped a smooth ollie over the curb.

    Beginners often struggle to pop tricks with any consistency.

    UsageTakes the trick as its object: pop an ollie, pop a wheelie, pop a U-turn.

    Similarpull, land, throw, perform

    Note

    Ben Wixon's Skateboarding (2009) ties it to the board itself, where the tail "enables skaters to pop ollies," and David Brin's Brightness Reef (1995) has a character popping a wheelie. Drivers borrow it too: popping a U-turn is a quick turnaround on the road. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Ben Wixon wrote Skateboarding: Instruction, Programming, and Park Design, published in 2009. openlibrary.org
    • Wixon's book describes the tail as enabling skaters to pop ollies, using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
    • The publication year attached to the wheelie passage is 1995. davidbrin.com
24. 24
    street danceverbintransitive

    To dance by abruptly contracting and releasing the muscles in sharp hits timed to the beat.

    She popped and locked her way across the stage.

    Few street dancers can pop with that kind of control.

    UsageOften pop and lock, as in popping and locking across a stage.

    Note

    Dancers who do it are called poppers. Run-DMC's "King of Rock" (1985) sets them beside another crew, inviting the poppers and the breakers each to do their own move, because popping and breaking are separate styles.

25. 25
    nouncountable or uncountable

    A quick, often unaimed shot fired from a firearm.

    She took a pop at the swinging target and just clipped its edge.

    A couple of wild pops from his rifle sent the birds scattering skyward.

    UsageOften take a pop at something, as in take a pop at a target.

    Similarshot, potshot

26. 26
    climaxverbslangvulgarintransitive

    To ejaculate or reach orgasm.

    He focused on his breathing so he wouldn't pop right away.

    Just as he was about to pop, his phone rang and ruined the moment.

    UsageAbout a pregnant woman, ready to pop means close to giving birth, not this sense.

    Similarclimax, come

27. 27
    give birthverbslangintransitive

    To give birth.

    She was so pregnant she looked ready to pop at any moment.

    The new mother popped just before midnight.

    UsageMost often ready to pop, said of a woman close to giving birth.

    Similardeliver, drop

    Note

    Doctor Who's "The Almost People" (2011) uses it ("You're ready to pop, aren't you?"), and so does the webcomic Rain in 2021. The image is of something swollen to bursting, so it suits casual talk, not medical writing. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The Almost People is a Doctor Who episode first broadcast in 2011. en.wikipedia.org
    • The episode contains the quoted question, referring to impending childbirth. en.wiktionary.org
    • Rain uses ready to pop about pregnancy in 2021. en.wiktionary.org
28. 28
    noundatedcountable or uncountable

    A pistol; a small handgun, in dated slang use.

    Similarpistol, handgun, gun, piece

    Note

    The gun's sound gave it its name in this dated slang. Adventure magazine in 1916 has two ragged men bringing out their pops "quick as winking," ready to shoot. It takes an ordinary plural. Today it reads as period color, and a modern reader could easily mistake it for a can of fizzy drink. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Adventure in 1916 contains the described scene, including ‘quick as winking’ and ‘pops’. en.wiktionary.org
    • The noun has the regular plural ‘pops’. classic-literature.net
29. 29
    verbslang

    To pawn something in order to raise money.
30. 30
    noun

    In computing, taking away whichever item was added to a stack most recently.
31. 31
    noun

    The redwing, a European thrush.
32. 32
    noun

    In physics, the sixth derivative of position with respect to time, meaning how quickly crackle changes.
33. 33
    nounUS

    An undersized, unripe peanut that is boiled for snacking.
34. 34
    nounslang

    A loud burst of cheering or noise from a crowd.
35. 35
    noun

    A playing technique, mainly on bass guitar, in which a string is hooked, lifted off the fingerboard and let go to snap back.
36. 36
    verb

    In computing, to take away whichever item was added to a stack most recently.
37. 37
    verb

    To have penetrative sex with someone, as the partner doing the penetrating.
38. 38
    verb

    To hook a finger under a string, mainly on a bass guitar, pull it away from the fingerboard, and let it snap back.
39. 39
    nounrare

    A parish priest in the Russian Orthodox Church.

    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