noun
1.
soft food for infants or invalids, as bread soaked in water or milk.
2.
an idea, talk, book, or the like, lacking substance or real value.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English; a nursery word akin to Dutch pap, German Pappe, Latin, Italian pappa
1400–50; late Middle English; a nursery word akin to Dutch pap, German Pappe, Latin, Italian pappa
Related forms
pap·like, adjective
Synonyms
2. drivel, balderdash, twaddle.
2. drivel, balderdash, twaddle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To pap
00:10
Pap
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
pap1 (pæp) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | any soft or semiliquid food, such as bread softened with milk, esp for babies or invalids; mash |
| 2. | (South African) porridge made from maize |
| 3. | worthless or oversimplified ideas; drivel: intellectual pap |
| [C15: from Middle Low German pappe, via Medieval Latin from Latin pappāre to eat; compare Dutch pap, Italian pappa] | |
| pap2 (pæp) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | dialect (Scot), (Northern English) a nipple or teat |
| 2. | a. something resembling a breast or nipple, such as (formerly) one of a pair of rounded hilltops |
| b. (capital as part of a name): the Pap of Glencoe | |
| [C12: of Scandinavian origin, imitative of a sucking sound; compare Latin papilla nipple, Sanskrit pippalaka] | |
| pap3 (pæp) | |
| —vb , -ps, -ping, -ped | |
| (of the paparazzi) to follow and photograph (a famous person) | |
| [C20: from | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pap
"soft food for infants," c.1430, from O.Fr. papa "watered gruel," from L. pappa, a widespread word in children's language for "food" (e.g. M.H.G., Du. pap, Ger. Pappe), imitative of an infant's noise when hungry; possibly associated with pap (2) (q.v.). Meaning "over-simplified idea" first recorded 1548.
pap
"nipple of a woman's breast," c.1200, first attested in Northern and Midlands writing, probably from a Scand. source (not recorded in O.N., but cf. dial. Swed. pappe), from PIE imitative base *pap- "to swell" (cf. L. papilla "nipple," papula "a swelling, pimple;" Lith. papas "nipple").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
pap (pāp)
n.
Soft or semiliquid food, as for infants.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary
PAP definition
1.
2.
(1996-03-23)
American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Pap
|
PAP
|
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
They are smoking less and taking more preventive tests such as mammograms and pap smears.
Depending upon your spiritual outlook, this statement is either a profound truth or sentimental pap.
But pap smears allow precancerous lesions to be treated before they become cancerous.
Pap smears effectively spot such changes, but they must be done regularly.
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