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

UK prison term for a sex offender — used with venom, especially for nonces and child abusers. Being labelled a beast on the wing is a death sentence to your safety; it's why so many sex offenders end up on the VP (vulnerable prisoner) wing.

Holding a negative outlook that prices will fall. 'Bearish on X' signals pessimism about an asset or idea.

A person, usually of the opposite sex, paraded as a partner to disguise someone's actual orientation. The classic closet accessory: she's on his arm at the gala so nobody asks questions. Can be a knowing arrangement between friends or a cover the beard doesn't even know they're providing.

Anything fierce, fast, or powerful, including a flashy car.

An officer monitoring the CB band — meaning anything you say on the air, he hears. Used as a warning to fellow truckers to keep it clean and stop tipping each other off.

A radar speed-trap — a cop parked up with a gun on a stretch where everyone naturally drifts over the limit. Classic CB warning passed driver to driver.

A market phase marked by declining prices, negative sentiment and selling pressure. Someone 'bearish' expects prices to fall.

bear in the air

Police aircraft — usually a small plane or helicopter — clocking speeders from above. Painted timing strips on the shoulder give it away. Radar detector won't save you from this one.

A police station or highway-patrol post. If bears are cops, the bear cave is where they live between hunts. Truckers warn each other when one's coming up on the route.

CB-radio shorthand for a speeding ticket. The cops are 'bears,' so the citation they hand you is the bite. Stings the wallet, stings the record.

A car (almost always a "four-wheeler") flying past you well over the limit. Truckers treat them as a gift: any cop in the area locks onto the faster, easier target and lets the rig roll on by.

Catch-all CB term for law enforcement. Spawns a whole bestiary: 'plain bear' (unmarked car), 'bear in the air' (police helicopter or spotter plane), 'bear bite' (speeding ticket), 'bear cave' (police station), 'mama bear' (female officer), 'baby bear' (rookie).

A nickname for Boston, referencing Boston baked beans — though locals rarely use it themselves.

beans, bullets, and band-aids

A shorthand for the core classes of supply a fighting force needs: food, ammunition, and medical care.

A pitch deliberately aimed at the batter's head or body; 'bean' is old slang for the head.

The hinged opening in a solid cell door through which meal trays and items are passed to a locked-in inmate. Also called the food port.

Perfect, unbroken accuracy. Every round connects, so the enemy's health bar just evaporates — like you've got a laser on them. The flex word for cracked aim.

A weapon that fires so tight and low-recoil it feels like a laser. Point it and the bullets just go where you're aiming.

In British thieves' cant a 'beak' is a magistrate or judge before whom a criminal is brought.

Stranded or unable to move, as a beached whale; also just very full or lethargic. Popularised by a viral cartoon.

The visible upper-body muscles people most like to show off at the beach — chest, arms and abs — sometimes implying vanity training.

A surf spot where waves break over a sandy seabed or sandbar rather than reef or rock. Generally more forgiving for beginners.

Be careful, be alert, keep your wits about you. The kind of thing your da says before you head out on the lash, or a fella in the pub mutters about a dodgy bit of business. Tied directly to 'wide' meaning streetwise — to 'be wide' is to switch that mode on.

An exasperated reaction telling someone to be serious because what they said sounds absurd.