Bitch-slap (sometimes bitchslap or bitch slap) is a slang term often meaning the same as a box on the ear .

It is usually used in a threatening sense, rather than a practical one (e.g. "Don't make me bitch-slap you!"). The term can have several meanings, of which the first one is perhaps the original:

• A bitch-slap can be an overpowering backhanded slap (i.e. a box on the ear) delivered by a supposedly docile female to a dominant male.
• A bitch-slap can also be a slap given, particularly but not necessarily, to a female who is being rude or hysterical to calm or subdue her (or him).
• A bitch-slap could also be the act of literally slapping a prostitute, the slap usually being delivered by her pimp, usually when the prostitute is behaving out of line (sometimes pimp slap).

This practical definiton has evolved in its figurative sense to mean a slap given to one person by another in order for the administer of the slap to assert dominance over the receiver of it.