pop1

verb (pops, popping, popped)

• 1make or cause to make a light explosive sound: [no object]:corks popped and glasses tinkled [with object]:teenagers were popping balloons with darts
• [no object] (of a person’s ears) make a small popping sound within the head as pressure is equalized, typically because of a change of altitude: my ears popped in the lift
• [with object] heat (popcorn or another foodstuff) until it bursts open: the hot-air popper pops 4 quarts of popcorn in 5 minutes

• 2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] go somewhere for a short time, often without notice:she popped in to see if she could help
• [with object and adverbial of direction] put or move (something) somewhere quickly:she popped a pen into her pocket
• [with object] North American release, open, or engage (something) quickly or suddenly:he pulled a can of beer from the refrigerator and popped its tab

• 3 [no object] (of a person’s eyes) open wide and appear to bulge, especially with surprise: the man’s eyes popped in disbelief

• 4 [with object] informal take or inject (a drug): Williams had spent his life hitting the bottle and popping pills

• 5 [with object] British informal pawn (something): I wouldn’t ever sell it—I popped it

noun

• 1a light explosive sound:there were a few pops, perhaps from pistols

• 2 [mass noun] informal, dated a sweet fizzy drink such as lemonade: a bottle of pop
• [count noun] North American a can of sweet fizzy drink:fruit-flavoured pops

• 3a patch of bright colour:I like wearing a neutral outfit with one pop of yellow

• 4 (also pop fly or pop-up) Baseball a ball hit high in the air but not far from the home plate, providing an easy catch: he caught a pop fly for the third out of the seventh inning

adverb

• with a light explosive sound:the champagne went pop