1940 W. V. T. Clark Ox-bow Incident iii. 195 Even in the wind you could hear the horses snort about it, and the slap of leather and the jangle of jerked bits.

1969 E. Brathwaite in K. Ramchand & C. Gray West Indian Poetry (1972) 78 Slap of the leather reins Along the horse's back and he'd be off.

1985 M. Gee Light Years vi. 72 Davey shut up his Time Out with a slap.

1934 R. P. Dodge in Hound & Horn 7 600 The remaining instruments, bass, fiddle, guitar, banjo and tuba..have contributed..a few individual elements such as the ‘slap’ of the bass.

1984 Sounds 29 Dec. 37 (advt.) Bass course series..Slap and Funk.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 310 A slop thai maid quhar thai set on a syd.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) x. l. 255 Sloppys thai maid throu all that chewalry. The hardy Scottis thai wrocht so worthely.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. xxi. 218 Be force of al þare bodyis and wapynnys..þai made ane slop throw þare Inemyis.

1867 A. Dawson Rambling Recoll. (1868) 38 These triumphs made many slaps in the ranks of the regiment.

c1480 (a1400) Prol. 72 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 3 Longius..mad ȝet þare in cristis syd a slope, þat ves bath lang & vyd.

c1480 (a1400) St. Christina 300 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 406 With ane arrow in hire syd he mad a slope.

1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. B2 As for my spoons, those I brought, that I..might haue one slap at the Spoone meat.

1600 N. Breton Pasquils Fooles-cap (rev. ed.) sig. D3^v Hee that puts fifteene elles into a Ruffe And seauenteene yards into a swagg'ring slappe.

1605 N. Breton Olde Mans Lesson sig. C4 A thousand times more contentiue, then to buye it in a Shoppe, and to weare it in Slappe.

1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xv. 99 Under which [market] the poore Indian wives meet at five a clock at evening to sell what slap and drugges they can prepare most cheape for the empty Criolian stomackes.

1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 271 The rougher part that is left in the slap-riddle is..passed again through the mill.

1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 333 The slap-riddles are ¾ inch, and 1 inch in the meshes.

1865 Morning Star 27 Feb. While one [coal-waggon] was being lowered by the machinery so that it might be brought near the slap-heap.

1883 in W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 225.

1840 H. Cockton Life Valentine Vox xiv. 108 But it's a werry nice place; werry private and genteel. None o' your public 'uns!—everything slap and respectable!

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 107/1 People's got proud now,..and must have everything slap.

1672 Duke of Buckingham Rehearsal i. 4 But as soon as any one speaks, pop I slap it down, and make that, too, my own.

1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 37 Pop, he slaps them down.

1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xvii. 141 She could rattle off poetry like nothing... She would slap down a line, and if she couldn't find anything to rhyme with it she would just scratch it out and slap down another one.

1709 S. Centlivre Busie Body iv. ii. 49 Sir Jeal. There, go, and come no more within sight of my Habitation... (Slaps the Door after her.)

1763 Ann. Reg. 1762 133/1 The daughter..slapped to the door.

1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. xi. 227 I..contented myself with slapping the door of my bed-room in his face.

?1796 H. More Black Giles the Poacher: Pt. I ('Cheaper' ed.) 4 They are very apt to let the gate slap full against you, before you are half way through.

a1882 D. G. Rossetti Ballad of J. Van Hunks i You might hear the hall-door slap.

1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xxii. 156 We could..hear the water slapping against the bends.

1883 J. A. Symonds Ital. Byways v. 86 The sea slapped and broke..on our windward quarter.

1897 C. M. Flandrau Harvard Episodes 169 The fellows could hear the rain slapping in gusts against the window-panes.

1827 Mirror II. 36/2 Always slap along at a desperate rate through the streets.

1828– in Eng. Dial. Dict. (Yorks., Lancs., Northants.).

1966 S. Heaney Death of Naturalist 57 And one Was scaresome for there, out of ferns and tall Foxgloves, a rat slapped across my reflection.

1842 S. Lover Handy Andy ii I'll keep no terms with him;—I'll slap at him directly, what can you do that's wickedest?

1842 S. Lover Handy Andy iii Slap at him, Morty, my boy, the minute you get the word, and if you don't hit him itself, it will prevent him dwelling on his aim.

1957 R. D. Luce & H. Raiffa Games & Decisions v. 95 We turn now to a different example of a non-zero-sum game. This one is attributed to A. W. Tucker... The following interpretation, known as the prisoner's dilemma is popular: Two suspects are taken into custody and separated. The district attorney is certain that they are guilty of a specific crime, but he does not have adequate evidence to convict them at a trial. He points out to each prisoner that each has two alternatives: to confess to the crime the police are sure they have done, or not to confess. If they both do not confess..he will book them on some very minor trumped-up charge..and they will both receive minor punishment; if they both confess they will be prosecuted, but he will recommend less than the most severe sentence; but if one confesses and the other does not, then the confessor will receive lenient treatment for turning state's evidence whereas the latter will get ‘the book’ slapped at him.

1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 37/2 Late in the contest coach John Petrushchak and centre Bruno Marcocchio were slapped with technical fouls for disagreeing with the referees.

1972 Newsweek 10 Jan. 17/3 For his indiscretion, he is slapped with a stiff $17,000 fine.

1973 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 4/1 Two young stepbrothers involved in a drug-crime..were slapped with five years partial probation.

1938 ‘E. Queen’ Four of Hearts xi. 153 She's been..leading me on just so she could turn around and slap me down.

1949 L. A. G. Strong Maud Cherrill 40 Any hint of affectation or pretentiousness she would have slapped down hard.

1960 ‘E. McBain’ See them Die xvi. 209 You're God, and there isn't anyone who's going to slap your wrist, no matter how you do it.

1973 Times 13 Aug. 4/2 Sales of this have gone up in recent years and we cannot think that the Government is going to slap the face of a very large number of users to save a little money.

1973 Times 17 Oct. 20/3 The police sergeant who conducted the prosecutions was often slapped down by the clerk of the court for leading his witnesses.

1977 E. Ambler Send no More Roses iii. 53 Thinking that he was about to deliver the admonition, I let him go ahead. He didn't even slap her wrist.

1978 Lancs. Life July 63/2 His seniors might well have felt he was a publicity-seeker who needed slapping-down.

1949 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Jan. 6/3 The slap-bass virtuoso who accidentally kicks a hole in his instrument in the middle of a jam session.

1956 S. Traill Play that Music iv. 46 This was the era of the slap bass: so called because the strings were pulled away from the fingerboard of the bass and..let smartly back to the fingerboard—thereby making a loud clicking sound.

1932 B. Worsley-Gough Public Affaires x. 182 ‘Lord,’ said Venetia, ‘I had forgotten the Bishop. What is he like?’ ‘Jovial. Jolly. Slap-you-on-the-back-for-tuppence.’

1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Nov. 708/4 Mr Matthews has a jolly, slap-you-on-the-back approach.

1962 Listener 28 June 1114/2 Newbolt himself was no hearty, bluff, slap-you-on-the-back sort of man.

1912 N.Y. Tribune 12 Oct. 10/5 Cady, after fouling off three balls, slapped a single through the box.

1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day viii. 183 Studs watched the infield practice, the grounders slapped hard, cutting over the dirt, the ball snapped around from player to player.

1964 F. Mahovlich Ice Hockey ix. 54 Get a friend to feed you passes which you can slap at the goalmouth.

1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VI. i. 243/1 Slap,..(theatrical). Make-up. Also as verb.

1918 ‘Taffrail’ Little Ship ii. 26 The dockyard-maties had slapped on the service gray paint over coal-dust and dirt alike.

1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax iii. 36 She slapped the Orange Skin Food on to her face.

1960 News Chron. 16 Feb. 6/6 Barbara goes into the dressing-room to slap on the old goo.

1970 Sunday Times 3 May 28/6 Women take hours getting themselves done up to attract men, slapping on pancake, painting their eyes.

1983 I. Watson Bk. of River (1984) ii. 55 I soon found that painting isn't a matter of slapping on a fresh coat, then sitting back to admire it.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ix. viii. 110 The Volscenaris assemblit in a sop, To fyll the fowseis and the wallis to slop.

c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 211 The men of weare..slappit all the pendis of the kirk, for keiping thairof aganis my lord regent.

1767 in W. Cramond Ann. Cullen (1888) 106 The wall is slapt to make a slit to give air to the criminal prison.

1805 State Fraser of Fraserfield 216 (Jam.) The remains of an old dyke or bulwark, much slapped and broken.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. viii. 6 The quhilk Turnus..The myd routis went sloppand heir and thair.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. xv. 86 Þai nocht alanerlie dang and sloppit þe Sabynis legiouns, bot als put þame to flicht.

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 4 The other [dog] ranne straight to slap in the platter.

1608 H. Clapham Errour Right Hand 19 They haue slapt vp his Vomite.

1637 T. Heywood Pleasant Dial. iv, in Wks. (1874) VI. 191 With his long finger having scrap'd the dish, And slapt up all the sauce of flesh or fish.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) ‘To slap up,’ to swallow greedily, to dispatch a meal.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) He slapt up his porridge in a trice.

1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. iv. 99 I, and my Noah's Ark, lay slap in the way.

a1845 R. H. Barham House-warming!! in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 288 The shaft..ne'er glanced from a limb Of a tree.., but was aimed slap at him.

1853 C. Dickens Bleak House x. 92 A turnstile leading slap away into the meadows.

1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxv We walked slap down to the hotel.