clap

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See also: cłap

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /klæp/
  • Rhymes: -æp
  • Audio (US, Northern California)(file)

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English clappen, from Old English clæppan, from Proto-Germanic *klappōną. Cognate with Dutch klappen, Icelandic klappa, and Faroese klappa.

Noun[edit]

clap (plural claps)

Two men clapping.
  1. The act of striking the palms of the hands, or any two surfaces, together.
    He summoned the waiter with a clap.
  2. The explosive sound of thunder.
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[[Episode 12: The Cyclops]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
      The deafening claps of thunder and the dazzling flashes of lightning which lit up the ghastly scene testified that the artillery of heaven had lent its supernatural pomp to the already gruesome spectacle.
  3. Any loud, sudden, explosive sound made by striking hard surfaces together, or resembling such a sound.
    Off in the distance, he heard the clap of thunder.
  4. A slap with the hand, usually in a jovial manner.
    His father's affection never went further than a handshake or a clap on the shoulder.
  5. A single, sudden act or motion; a stroke; a blow.
  6. (falconry) The nether part of the beak of a hawk.
  7. (Yorkshire) A dropping of cow dung (presumably from the sound made as it hits the ground) [1]
    • 1890, John Nicholson, Folk Lore of East Yorkshire, page 139:
      “Oh! get some coo clap (cow dung), mix it wi’ fish oil (whale oil), put it on, and let it stop on all neet.”
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

clap (third-person singular simple present claps, present participle clapping, simple past and past participle clapped or (archaic) clapt)

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  1. To strike the palms of the hands together, creating a sharp sound.
    The children began to clap in time with the music.
  2. To applaud.
    The audience loudly clapped the actress, who responded with a deep curtsey.
    It isn’t the singers they are clapping; it's the composer.
  3. To slap with the hand in a jovial manner.
    He would often clap his teammates on the back for encouragement.
  4. To bring two surfaces together forcefully, creating a sharp sound.
    He clapped the empty glass down on the table.
    She clapped the book shut.
    He clapped across the floor in his boots.
    • 1681, Andrew Marvell, The Garden:
      Then like a bird it sits and sings, / Then whets and claps its silver wings.
    • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “He is Concerned in a Dangerous Adventure with a Certain Gardener; […]”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC, page 49, column 1:
      [...] Pipes, who acted as the enemy's forlorn hope, advanced to the gate with great intrepidity, and clapping his foot to the door, which was none of the ſtouteſt, with the execution and diſpatch of a petard, ſplit it into a thouſand pieces.
  5. (obsolete) To slam (a door or window); formerly often construed with to.
  6. To create or assemble (something) hastily (usually followed by up or together).
    We should clap together a shelter before nightfall.
    The rival factions clapped up a truce.
  7. To set or put, usually in haste.
    The sheriff clapped him in jail.
    She was the prettiest thing I'd ever clapped eyes on.
  8. (slang, African-American Vernacular) To shoot (somebody) with a gun.
  9. (slang) To have sex, fornicate, copulate.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Uncertain. Probably from Old French clapoir (“bubo, inflammation from infection”), from clapier (“brothel”). May also be from old, unsafe treatments for gonnorhea, such as clapping the penis between a book and a hard surface to break up obstructions in the urethra and permit urination. Attested from the 16th century.[2][3]

Noun[edit]

clap

  1. (slang, usually with "the") Gonorrhea.
    • 1821 [1580 April 27], Alexander Montgomerie, “The Flyting”, in The Poems of Alexander Montgomery‎[1], page 115:
      With the mischiefe of the melt and maw, / The clape and the canker,—
    • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 172:
      I stepped out of my tent in Marrakech one night to get a bar of candy and caught your dose of clap when that Wac I never even saw before hissed me into the bushes.
    • 1972, Richard Hooker, MASH‎[2], page 32:
      “What in hell makes you think he's got the clap?” Hawkeye asked. “Even a clap doctor can't diagnose it through a parka
    • 1980, Ruth Bell, Changing Bodies, Changing Lives, page 295:
      He thought I had given him the clap [gonorrhea], but I knew I didn't.
    • 1998, Dan Savage, Savage Love, page 229:
      When I explained that I thought he had given me the clap, he said I must be mistaken, it had to be someone I'd “tricked” with at ... He'd never had an STD in his life, he told me, and slammed down the phone.
    • [2006, Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, Laura Silverstein Nunn, The STDs Update, page 40:
      Gonorrhea, sometimes called the clap, is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae.]
Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Edward Peacock, A Glossary of Words Used in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham, Lincolnshire, p 188
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
  3. ^ “clap”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Uncertain.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

clap m (plural claps)

  1. patch
  2. clearing, opening
    un clap de cel ― a break in the clouds

Derived terms[edit]

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Further reading[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

clap m (plural claps)

  1. clapperboard

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Noun[edit]

clap

  1. Alternative form of clappe

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

clap

  1. Alternative form of clappen

Occitan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

clap m (plural claps)

  1. stone

Derived terms[edit]

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