claquer

English

Noun

claquer (plural claquers)

1. Alternative form of claqueur

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kla.ke/

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French claquer, from Old French claquer, clacquer (“to clack, clap, clatter”), from Middle Dutch klacken (“to clack, crack, whack, shake”), from Old Dutch *klakon, from Proto-Germanic *klakōną (“to clap, chirp”).

Verb

claquer

1. (intransitive) to clack (make a sharp sound)
2. (of hands) to clap

   claquer des mains ― to clap one's hands

   claquer les acrobates ― to clap the acrobats

3. (intransitive, of fingers) to click, to snap

   faire claquer ses doigts ― to click one's fingers

4. (intransitive, of a whip) to crack

   faire claquer un fouet ― to crack a whip

5. (intransitive, of a flag) to flap
6. (intransitive, of teeth) to chatter
   • 1829, Victor Hugo, Le Dernier Jour d’un condamné:

     Je me levai ; mes dents claquaient, mes mains tremblaient et ne savaient où trouver mes vêtements, mes jambes étaient faibles.

     I got up; my teeth were chattering, my hands shaking, not knowing where to find my clothes, my legs were weak,

7. (intransitive, of gunshots) to rattle
8. (intransitive, of shutters) to rattle
9. (intransitive) to click (to make a click sound with the mouth)
10. (transitive) to slap (hit with the hand)
11. (transitive) to slam (a door)

    J’ai claqué la porte au nez de mon voisin.

    I slammed the door in my neighbour's face.

12. (reflexive) to snap

    se claquer un muscle ― to snap a muscle

13. (informal) to squander, to dissipate, to splurge
    • 2018 July 6, “Bonaparte”, in Elh Kmer (lyrics), Antidote:

      J’suis dans l’hood, j’bicrave de l’OG Kush et c’est normal
      500€, claqués dans mes souliers c’est normal

      I am in the hood, I slang the OG Kush and this is normal
      500€, blown on my creps, this is normal

    • 2021 February 13, Fresh (lyrics and music), “La Douille #4”‎^[1]:

      Ce fils de pute il a mal fait les comptes, il a tout claqué, il s’est retrouvé dedans

      This son of a bitch has made bad reckonings, splurged all, he finds himself inside.

14. (intransitive, colloquial) to die

Conjugation

Conjugation of claquer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	claquer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	claquant /kla.kɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		claqué /kla.ke/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	claque /klak/	claques /klak/	claque /klak/	claquons /kla.kɔ̃/	claquez /kla.ke/	claquent /klak/
	imperfect	claquais /kla.kɛ/	claquais /kla.kɛ/	claquait /kla.kɛ/	claquions /kla.kjɔ̃/	claquiez /kla.kje/	claquaient /kla.kɛ/
	past historic2	claquai /kla.ke/	claquas /kla.ka/	claqua /kla.ka/	claquâmes /kla.kam/	claquâtes /kla.kat/	claquèrent /kla.kɛʁ/
	future	claquerai /kla.kʁe/	claqueras /kla.kʁa/	claquera /kla.kʁa/	claquerons /kla.kʁɔ̃/	claquerez /kla.kʁe/	claqueront /kla.kʁɔ̃/
	conditional	claquerais /kla.kʁɛ/	claquerais /kla.kʁɛ/	claquerait /kla.kʁɛ/	claquerions /kla.kə.ʁjɔ̃/	claqueriez /kla.kə.ʁje/	claqueraient /kla.kʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	claque /klak/	claques /klak/	claque /klak/	claquions /kla.kjɔ̃/	claquiez /kla.kje/	claquent /klak/
	imperfect2	claquasse /kla.kas/	claquasses /kla.kas/	claquât /kla.ka/	claquassions /kla.ka.sjɔ̃/	claquassiez /kla.ka.sje/	claquassent /kla.kas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	claque /klak/	—	claquons /kla.kɔ̃/	claquez /kla.ke/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

Derived terms

• claquement
• claque-merde
• claquer des dents
• claquer du bec
• claquer la porte
• faire claquer son fouet

Etymology 2

From claque (“vamp”) +‎ -er.

Verb

claquer

1. to vamp a shoe

Further reading

• “claquer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.