dap

noun

ˈdap 

plural daps

chiefly African American English

: a stylized gesture in which two people clasp hands (as in greeting or solidarity) and that often involves a variety of additional gestures (such as bumping fists, snapping fingers, and slapping palms)

Across the U.S. and around the globe, the dap has various marvelous permutations among melanated people. It might be a loud smack of hands, followed by a grip and a shoulder lean-in. Or a four-fingered shake, then sliding together of fingers, then the shoulder lean-in and a back slap. Each gesture wordlessly denotes the depth of respect and intimacy the two people share.

—Rhonda Henderson and Aaron Stallworth

… [Basketball player Duncan] Robinson and [close friend Harry] Rafferty were having breakfast while Lakers star LeBron James was eating at a nearby table. "LeBron walked over and goes, 'What up, Dunc?'" Rafferty said. "And he gave him a dap. …"

—Adam Himmelsbach

"We ride together, we die together, bad marriage for life!" the two [Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith] joked (using a Bad Boys reference), followed with a loving dap.

—Tonja Renée Stidhum

… the kind hearted gentle giant that was always quick to lovingly greet with a hug, some dap and a smile.

—Delores Shante

—usually used in the phrases give dap(s) or give some dap

… the starters were running their pregame sprints "giving daps and doing our handshakes."

—Paul Hoynes

By the time Jayson Tatum turned around to give teammate Jaylen Brown some dap for a pass to set up an easy layup, Aaron Nesmith's inbounds pass was in his grasp. Tatum knocked the ball back to Brown, who pulled up for a 28-footer. Swish.

—Gary Washburn

The two then gave each other dap—a less formal, more intimate handshake. It's a greeting often shared between people with mutual respect for one another.

—Javonte Anderson

Examples of dap in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As the third quarter ended, instead of handing out daps and making small talk with her teammates, Jocytė started her warmups. —Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 26 May 2026

And with that start came Thursday's pregame introduction and subsequent theatrics with Graves, who's the designated distributor of designer daps for Texas' starters this season. —Danny Davis, Austin American Statesman, 27 Feb. 2026

To fake the airbrush vibe, grab a makeup sponge and dap on the polish. —Kara Jillian Brown, InStyle, 20 Feb. 2026

In August, Brown walked into the West Palm Beach Brightline station, where he was welcomed with hugs and daps. —Brittany Wallman, Miami Herald, 6 Nov. 2025

His wish was granted when the Atlanta rapper walked up with a welcoming dap. —Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 6 May 2025

There are closeups of stank-faces, daps, acrylic nails turning knobs. —Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2025

His three-picture carousel included a close-up of a stoic Andrews with eye-black under his focused eyes, a locker room dap up with Lamar Jackson and a photo of Baltimore’s all-time touchdowns leader peeking out of a locker stall dramatized by a black and white filter. —Sam Cohn, Sun Sentinel, 24 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

coinage probably patterned on dab entry 1, dip entry 1, tap entry 1 and phonetically similar words

Note: The phonetic frame alveolar plosive/vowel/labial plosive appears to constitute a phonestheme in English found in noun and verb derivatives denoting a quick, light movement. Compare also rap entry 1 and extended forms such as dabble, dibble entry 1. This word has probably arisen independently of dap entry 3 and dap entry 4.

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above