Standard Lemma guide

pap

adj · name · noun · verb · 35 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-South-African: /pap/
  • /pæp/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æp
  • CMU ARPABET: P AE1 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Weak, feeble; lacking substance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Spineless, wet, without character.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa, slang

Examples

  • He is so pap and boring.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Flat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa, slang

Examples

  • I got a puncture and the wheel went pap.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

name

Meaning 4

Initialism of People's Action Party.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

Qualifier: Singaporean politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

name

Meaning 5

Pay And Pay (nickname for the People's Action Party)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Singlish, derogatory

Qualifier: Singaporean politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

name

Meaning 6

Initialism of People's Armed Police.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Food in the form of a soft paste, often a porridge, especially as given to very young children.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Pap can be made from bread boiled in milk or water.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Pablum or nonsense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

Porridge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa, countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Pap and wors are traditionally eaten at a braai.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

A fermented cereal pudding made from corn, sorghum, or millet

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Africa, Nigeria, West, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

Support from official patronage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, derogatory, informal, uncountable

Examples

  • Treasury pap

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

The pulp of fruit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

A female breast or nipple.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

A man's breast.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

noun

Meaning 15

A rounded, nipple-like hill or peak.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

noun

Meaning 16

Alternative letter-case form of Pap (“Pap smear”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

17

noun

Meaning 17

Clipping of paparazzo.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

18

noun

Meaning 18

Pa; father.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ayr, ba, baba, da, dad, dada, daddio, daddy, father, fatherling, governor, old man, pa, pap, papa, papa bear, papaw, pappaw, pappy, pater, patriarch, paw, pawpaw, peepaw, pepaw, pop, poppa, poppy, pops, sire

Antonyms: none provided

19

noun

Meaning 19

polyfluoroalkyl phosphate ester

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

20

noun

Meaning 20

Initialism of password authentication protocol.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, networking, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

21

noun

Meaning 21

Abbreviation of past active participle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

22

noun

Meaning 22

Abbreviation of present active participle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

23

noun

Meaning 23

Initialism of principle of alternate possibilities.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

24

noun

Meaning 24

Initialism of prostatic acid phosphatase.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

25

noun

Meaning 25

Initialism of participatory anthropic principle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

Topics: astronomy, cosmology, epistemology, human-sciences, natural-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

26

noun

Meaning 26

Acronym of positive airway pressure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, acronym, alt-of

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

27

noun

Meaning 27

Acronym of positive airway pressure.

A positive airway pressure machine, a PAP device.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

28

noun

Meaning 28

Ellipsis of Pap smear.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Pap test

Antonyms: none provided

29

verb

Meaning 29

To feed with pap.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

30

verb

Meaning 30

To take a surreptitious photograph of (someone, especially a celebrity) without their consent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Qualifier: usually passive voice

Examples

  • Look, that pop star’s been papped in her bikini again!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

31

verb

Meaning 31

Alternative letter-case form of PAP (“post a picture”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

32

verb

Meaning 32

Post a picture.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, abbreviation, acronym

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

33

noun

Meaning 33

the small projection of a mammary gland

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nipple, mammilla, mamilla, teat, tit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: reproductive organ, sex organ

34

noun

Meaning 34

worthless or oversimplified ideas

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pablum

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: drivel, garbage

35

noun

Meaning 35

a diet that does not require chewing; advised for those with intestinal disorders

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: soft diet, spoon food

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: diet

History

Etymology

From Afrikaans pap (“porridge”). Cognate with etymology 1.

From Middle English pap. Related to Middle Low German pappe, Dutch pap, German Pappe (“pap, porridge; wheatpaste; cardboard”), Old French papa/pape, Latin pappa, Bulgarian папам (papam, “to eat”) and Serbo-Croatian папати/papati (“to eat”), among others. The relationships between these words are difficult to reconstruct. The Germanic word is either a borrowing from Latin or, perhaps more probably, an independent formation in baby-talk.

From Middle English pappe, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Latin papilla; or perhaps compare Old Swedish papp (“breast, nipple”), from Proto-Germanic *pap- (“nipple”), of imitative origin, or from Proto-Indo-European *pap- (“pock mark, nipple”); Swedish dialectal papp, pappe, Swedish patt, Danish patte, North Frisian pap, pape, papke (“breast, pap”).

Ellipsis of Pap smear.

Clipping of paparazzo.

Compare pa, papa, pop.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: nössö — without character
  • Bulgarian: каша (kaša) — soft food
  • Czech: kaše — soft food
  • Dutch: pap — soft food
  • Finnish: mössö — soft food
  • French: purée — soft food
  • Galician: papa — soft food
  • Georgian: ფაფა (papa) — soft food
  • German: Brei — soft food
  • Greek: νιανιά (nianiá) — soft food
  • Italian: pappa — soft food
  • Latin: pāpārium — soft food
  • Classical Nahuatl: tlaxcalātōlli — soft food
  • Polish: papka — soft food
  • Portuguese: papa — soft food
  • Portuguese: papinha — soft food
  • Russian: пюре́ (pjuré) — soft food
  • Lower Sorbian: papa — soft food
  • Spanish: papilla — soft food
  • Swedish: smörja — soft food
  • Bulgarian: глупости (gluposti) — colloquial: nonsense
  • Czech: blbost — colloquial: nonsense
  • Czech: blbosti — colloquial: nonsense
  • Czech: bláboly — colloquial: nonsense
  • Finnish: potaska — colloquial: nonsense
  • Finnish: lööperi — colloquial: nonsense
  • Finnish: mössö — colloquial: nonsense
  • Swedish: smörja — colloquial: nonsense
  • Finnish: tukiaiset — support from official patronage
  • Bulgarian: пулп (pulp) — pulp of fruit
  • Finnish: hedelmäliha — pulp of fruit
  • Bulgarian: зърно (zǎrno) — female breast
  • Bulgarian: цицка (cicka) — female breast
  • Finnish: tissi — female breast
  • Finnish: tisu — female breast
  • Irish: dide — female breast
  • Scottish Gaelic: cìoch — female breast
  • Finnish: syöttää mössöä — to feed with pap