afterclap
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of afterclap
1300–50; Middle English; compare Low German achterklap; see after, clap 1
Explanation
People may think a period of political unrest is over once the government has restored order — but then there may be an afterclap as a slew of protesters take to the streets demanding the police chief resign for not acting soon enough. The clap in afterclap is like the one in thunderclap: a sudden, loud noise — but in this case, it's an unsettling development that comes after people have stopped expecting it. Imagine a thunderstorm full of loud, crashing peals of thunder. It dies down, the sky clears, and the storm is past. But then, all of a sudden, there's another loud clap of thunder! That's the image suggested by the word afterclap: a complex, chaotic situation seems to be over, and then it turns out that it's not.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The afterclap was inevitable, and it soon came.
From A Group of Noble Dames by Hardy, Thomas
The shock of her fall had begun to awaken the nervous terror which is the afterclap of such an adventure.
From Ruth Fielding on Cliff Island Or, The Old Hunter's Treasure Box by Emerson, Alice B.
N. disappointment; blighted hope, balk; blow; anticlimax; slip 'twixt cup and lip; nonfulfillment of one's hopes; sad disappointment, bitter disappointment; trick of fortune; afterclap; false expectation, vain expectation; miscalculation &c.
From Roget's Thesaurus by Roget, Peter Mark
Suddenly the hideous consequences of it all, the afterclap, sounded in their ears.
From The Debtor A Novel by Stevens, William Dodge
"We must not have our triumph spoiled by any afterclap."
From The Scouts of the Valley by Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
