Clap
[klæp]
Definition
(verb.) clap one's hands together; 'The children were clapping to the music'.
(verb.) strike together so as to produce a sharp percussive noise; 'clap two boards together'.
(verb.) strike with the flat of the hand; usually in a friendly way, as in encouragement or greeting.
(verb.) put quickly or forcibly; 'The judge clapped him in jail'.
(verb.) strike the air in flight; 'the wings of the birds clapped loudly'.
(verb.) cause to strike the air in flight; 'The big bird clapped its wings'.
Typist: Manfred--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To strike; to slap; to strike, or strike together, with a quick motion, so, as to make a sharp noise; as, to clap one's hands; a clapping of wings.
(v. t.) To thrust, drive, put, or close, in a hasty or abrupt manner; -- often followed by to, into, on, or upon.
(v. t.) To manifest approbation of, by striking the hands together; to applaud; as, to clap a performance.
(v. t.) To express contempt or derision.
(v. i.) To knock, as at a door.
(v. i.) To strike the hands together in applause.
(v. i.) To come together suddenly with noise.
(v. i.) To enter with alacrity and briskness; -- with to or into.
(v. i.) To talk noisily; to chatter loudly.
(n.) A loud noise made by sudden collision; a bang.
(n.) A burst of sound; a sudden explosion.
(n.) A single, sudden act or motion; a stroke; a blow.
(n.) A striking of hands to express approbation.
(n.) Noisy talk; chatter.
(n.) The nether part of the beak of a hawk.
(n.) Gonorrhea.
Typist: Sonia
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Pat, strike gently.[2]. Thrust, force, put hastily.[3]. Applaud (by striking the hands together), cheer.
n. [1]. Blow, knock, slap.[2]. Explosion, burst.[3]. Gonorrhœa, venereal disease.
Editor: Mary
Definition
n. gonorrhea.
n. the noise made by the sudden striking together of two things as the hands: a burst of sound: a slap.—v.t. to strike together so as to make a noise: to thrust or drive together suddenly: to fasten promptly: to pat with the hand in a friendly manner: to applaud with the hands: to bang: to imprison—e.g. 'to clap one in prison.'—v.i. to strike the hands together: to strike together with noise: to applaud:—pr.p. clap′ping; pa.p. clapped.—ns. Clap′-board a thin board used in covering wooden houses; Clap′-bread a kind of hard-baked oatmeal cake; Clap′-dish (same as Clack-dish); Clap′-net a kind of net which is made to clap together suddenly by pulling a string; Clap′per one who claps: that which claps as the tongue of a bell: a glib tongue.—v.t. Clap′per-claw to claw or scratch: (Shak.) to scold.—ns. Clap′ping noise of striking: applause; Clap′-sill the bottom part of the frame on which lock-gates shut—called also Lock-sill; Clap′trap (Shak.) a trick to gain applause: flashy display: empty words; Claptrap′pery.—adj. Claptrap′pish.—Clap eyes on to see; Clap hands (Shak.) to make an agreement; Clap hold of to seize roughly; Clap up (Shak.) to conclude suddenly.
Checked by Jocelyn
Examples
- He smoked his pipe as we went along, and sometimes stopped to clap me on the shoulder. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Your moral clap-traps have an excellent effect in England--keep them for yourself and your own countrymen, if you please. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- It opened with a clap. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- That is a piece of clap-trap you have got ready for the hustings. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- There was a moral infection of clap-trap in him. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Under present circumstances, the one thing to be done was to clap the extinguisher upon Penelope's curiosity on the spot. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- It is truly wonderful, he said, how easily Society can console itself for the worst of its shortcomings with a little bit of clap-trap. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Diana clapped her hands. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- When I finished reading my first page, and stopped for breath, he clapped his hands and cried out in his hearty way, Das ist gut! Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- She used to say yo' were the prettiest thing she'd ever clapped eyes on. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- He looked at Anselmo and then clapped him on the back again as they started up the hill. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Here Marianne, in an ecstasy of indignation, clapped her hands together, and cried, Gracious God! Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Zat Arras clapped his hands as he ceased speaking. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Well hit, by Jove, says little Osborne, with the air of a connoisseur, clapping his man on the back. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Because, returned the sergeant, clapping him on the shoulder, you're a man that knows what's what. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- I shall expect you, Wegg,' said Mr Boffin, clapping him on the shoulder with the greatest enthusiasm, 'most joyfully. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- And that,' said Little Dorrit, clapping the two great hands together again, 'is Maggy's history, as Maggy knows! Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Quite perfect,' rejoined Fagin, clapping him on the shoulder. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- We say to the man who is tired of life that if he bungles we propose to make this world still less attractive by clapping him into jail. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Tell you what, said he, suddenly clapping his hand on Mr. Shelby's shoulder, fling in that chap, and I'll settle the business--I will. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Immediately afterwards, he twists him into a public-house and into a parlour, where he confronts him and claps his own back against the door. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The moment she is in the room Mr. Bucket claps the door to and puts his back against it. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Mr Wegg claps on his spectacles, and admiringly surveys Mr Venus from head to foot. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He claps his hands and Mesrour the Nubian appears, with bare arms, bangles, yataghans, and every Eastern ornament--gaunt, tall, and hideous. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- So he gallops close to the 'orse's legs, And he claps his head vithin; And the Bishop says, 'Sure as eggs is eggs, This here's the bold Turpin! Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
Edited by Ervin