clapper
a person who applauds.
the tongue of a bell.
Slang. the tongue.
Usually clappers. two flat sticks held between the fingers and struck rhythmically against each other to produce abrupt, sharp sounds.
Printing. a platen press.
Origin of clapper
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use clapper in a sentence
All the bamboo clappers, cocoanut shells, tin pans, and red flags that could be found were seized and put into use.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeTwo small knobs of brass, which serve as clappers, hang by silk strings, one between each two bells.
Endless Amusement | UnknownRattler opened his sleepy eyes, threw himself on guard with a snap and a buzz, and shook his bony clappers savagely.
Certainly the clappers were brawling in the tower and had come to blows.
Hints to Pilgrims | Charles Stephen BrooksWhenever her fingers moved, a little pretty clapping sound came from themMaida discovered that she carried tiny wooden clappers.
Maida's Little Shop | Inez Haynes Irwin
British Dictionary definitions for clapper
/ (ˈklæpə) /
a person or thing that claps
a contrivance for producing a sound of clapping, as for scaring birds
Also called: tongue a small piece of metal suspended within a bell that causes it to sound when made to strike against its side
a slang word for tongue (def. 1)
go like the clappers, run like the clappers or move like the clappers British informal to move extremely fast
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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