Low five

"Low Five" redirects here. For the Sneaker Pimps song, see Low Five (song).
One person lowering their hand and the other raising theirs
The second person moving their raised hand towards the other's lowered hand
A low five palm slap gesture in motion

The low five is a hand gesture when two people slap palms together. One party extends an open palm, face upward at about waist level, the other party strikes the palm in a downward swing with their open palm. It is sometimes known as "slapping five", "give me five", or "giving/slapping skin". Archaic terms for it include "slip-slapping", "slapping the plank" and "soul shake".[1]

The gesture is an antecedent of the high five which appeared in the 1970s.[2]

  1. ^ Jonathon Green (1985). The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. New York: Stein and Day. pp. 256, 263. ISBN 9780812830514.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Crockett was invoked but never defined (see the help page).