clapboard

¹ American  

[klab-erd, klap-bawrd, ‑-bohrd] / ˈklæb ərd, ˈklæpˌbɔrd, ‑ˌboʊrd /

noun

1. Chiefly Northeastern U.S. a long, thin board, thicker along one edge than the other, used in covering the outer walls of buildings, being laid horizontally, the thick edge of each board overlapping the thin edge of the board below it.

2. British. a size of oak board used for making barrel staves and for wainscoting.

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adjective

1. of or made of clapboard.

   a clapboard house.

clapboard ² American  

[klap-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈklæpˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

Movies.

1. a small board with a hinged stick attached that is clapped down at the beginning of the filming of a shot for use later in synchronizing sound and image in the editing of the film.

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clapboard British  

/ ˈklæbəd, ˈklæpˌbɔːd /

noun

1. 1. a long thin timber board with one edge thicker than the other, used esp in the US and Canada in wood-frame construction by lapping each board over the one below

   2. ( as modifier )

      a clapboard house

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verb

1. (tr) to cover with such boards

Etymology

Origin of clapboard¹

1510–20; earlier clap bord, alteration of obsolete clapholt < Low German klappholt (cognate with Dutch klaphout ) split wood used for barrel staves; see clap ¹, holt

Origin of clapboard²

clap ¹ + board

Example Sentences

Clapboard homes line the streets, and several yards hold rusty vehicles.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2012

Some live in cabins with a huge log wall, Nary a window in it at all, Sandstone chimney and a puncheon floor, Clapboard roof and a button door .

From Time Magazine Archive

Clapboard churches, throughout the South and Southwest, became the architectural landmark of the Baptist advance for nearly a century.

From Time Magazine Archive

He wrote that the workingmen had made a beginning of "Pitch and Tarre, Glass, Sope-ashes and Clapboard," but that little had been accomplished.

From The Planters of Colonial Virginia by Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson

Clapboard shells, with their gables to the street, embellished with square battlements to the ridge, are emblazoned with "City Drug Store," "City Saloon," "City Hard Ware Store," &c.

From The History of Peru by Beebe, Henry S.