pops

1. 1
   nouncolloquialcountablevocative

   An affectionate, casual name for one's father.

   Pops always had a story ready whenever the family gathered.

   I called my pops to ask for advice about the move.

   Similardad, pa, papa, father

   Note

   A pet name, not a plural. It is pop, the short word for dad, with the same fond -s that turns up in other nicknames. It is therefore singular: Pops is coming over, not Pops are. It is most at home in direct address, as in "Hey, pops, I'm home." The resemblance to the plural of the noun pop is only a matter of spelling.

2. 2
   nouncolloquialvocative

   Plural of pop.

   A string of sharp pops echoed as the fire reached the dry bamboo.

   The champagne corks left a few satisfying pops at the celebration.

   Note

   The ordinary plural of a noun with a wide spread of meanings. It covers sharp sounds, quick unaimed shots, and fizzy drinks in parts of Canada, the US Midwest and northern England. In that drink sense, "two pops" can be an order for two sodas rather than two noises. Context, not form, tells the meanings apart.

3. 3
   verbcolloquialvocative

   Third-person singular simple present of pop.

   He pops his head around the door to say good morning.

   The balloon pops the moment it touches the thorn.

   Note

   The present-tense form that does most of the verb's everyday work. Something pops when it bursts or snaps. Someone pops in or out when they dart or make a quick visit. In British and Australian use, a speaker pops something somewhere, as in "she pops the kettle on." That last pattern needs both an object and a place.

4. 4
   nouncolloquialvocative

   A familiar term of address for an older man, roughly old enough to be the speaker's father.

   Hold the rail, Pops, the steps are slick this morning.

   Some kid at the diner kept calling him Pops, which made him laugh.

   Similargramps, old-timer

   Note

   Here the family word is turned outward, onto any man of a father's age. Like the name for one's own father, it lives mostly in direct address and is said to the man himself. The familiarity is part of the meaning. It borrows the closeness of a family name for someone outside the family.

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