English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

Slang Dictionary — Modern Slang, Decoded

What does that word actually mean? Our slang dictionary explains modern slang clearly — Gen Z, internet, British and street slang — with real definitions, examples and where each term came from.

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Gen Z Slangrizz, delulu, slay Internet Slangbrainrot, based, mid British Slangpeng, bare, peak AAVEbussin, finna, cap

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Latest slang terms

A tactical approach emphasising a strongly organised, effective backline and stifling defence, famously associated with Italian football.

Borrowed online as a setup line to introduce a theme, outfit, or mood you're presenting.

A category is one of the themed competitions you can walk at a ball — each with its own rules, look and judging criteria. Face judges beauty, Realness judges how convincingly you pass, Vogue judges the dance, Sex Siren judges seduction. The MC calls a category, the walkers come out, the judges score. Balls are basically a night of category after category.

catching a ride

Getting intoxicated on drugs supplied by another prisoner, often in exchange for protection or favours later.

catching a falling knife

To 'catch a falling knife' is to buy an asset during a steep, ongoing decline in hopes of a bottom, risking further losses. The warning is to wait until the price appears to have stabilized.

catch-and-shoot

A shot taken right after receiving a pass, without dribbling, in rhythm.

catch you on the flip side

A casual farewell meaning 'I'll see you later.'

catch yerself on

An admonition to wise up, be sensible or stop talking rubbish. Northern Irish.

catch flights, not feelings

A motto for prioritising your own freedom, adventures, and independence over emotional attachment in dating, refusing to catch feelings for anyone.

To start feeling genuine emotional attachment to someone, especially in a situation that was supposed to stay casual. The classic complication of a hookup or situationship.

catch and release

Catch and release is chasing a person hard, then abruptly cooling off once you've secured their interest, treating the pursuit as the goal.

To share in another inmate's narcotics, getting high on their supply without your own.

To catch fire — to blow up in popularity, or to flare up in anger. Title of Bob Marley & The Wailers' 1973 album.

catch a falling knife

To buy a stock or other asset while its price is still tumbling, gambling that you've called the bottom. The metaphor is exactly what it sounds like: grab the handle and you're a hero, grab the blade and you bleed. Usually said as a warning, not a recommendation.

To dunk over an opponent in an especially aggressive, humiliating way, as if 'catching' a victim.

An early meaning of the word: fierce, destructive, or savage, before its "askew" sense dominated.

A specific upcoming event — earnings, a product launch, an FDA decision — expected to trigger a big price move, and the reason a trader times a bet.

Describes the body breaking down tissue, including muscle, for energy; the state lifters fear during under-eating or long fasts.

A 'cat' is a regular buyer of hard drugs — most often crack — who haunts the trap line. The image is the desperate, prowling user. To 'cat' something can also mean to fiend for it.

Ending things by being upfront and kind first, giving a soft explanation or a polite 'this isn't working' before disappearing, rather than vanishing cold like a normal ghost.

A freestyle trick in which the board is flipped upside down and balanced with the front foot on the underside and back foot hooked under the tail, then flipped back over.

Describes a bowl of cannabis that has been completely smoked, leaving only ash.

A playful framing of romance in the money metaphors flappers loved.

To finish a bowl of cannabis so that only ash is left, with no green flower remaining.