clap
1to strike the palms of (one's hands) against one another resoundingly, and usually repeatedly, especially to express approval: She clapped her hands in appreciation.
to strike (someone) amicably with a light, open-handed slap, as in greeting, encouragement, or the like: He clapped his friend on the back.
to strike (an object) against something quickly and forcefully, producing an abrupt, sharp sound, or a series of such sounds: to clap a book on the table.
to bring together forcefully (facing surfaces of the same object): She clapped the book shut.
to applaud (a performance, speech, speaker, etc.) by clapping the hands: The audience clapped the actors at the end of the act.
to put or place quickly or forcefully: Can you clap a lid on that jar? She clapped her hand over his mouth.They clapped him in jail.
to make or arrange hastily (often followed by together or up): He clapped together dinner from stuff in the pantry and leftovers from the fridge.
to clap the hands, as to express approval; applaud: After the audience stopped clapping, the tenor sang two encores.
to make an abrupt, sharp sound, as of flat surfaces striking against one another: The shutters clapped in the wind.
to move or strike with such a sound: She clapped across the room in her slippers.
an act or instance of clapping.
the abrupt, sharp sound produced by clapping.
a resounding blow; slap.
a loud and abrupt or explosive noise, as of thunder.
a sudden stroke, blow, or act.
Printing. clapper (def. 5).
Obsolete. a sudden mishap.
clap back, Slang. See entry at clapback.
Idioms about clap
clap eyes on. eye (def. 42).
clap hold of, Nautical. to take hold of.
Origin of clap
1Words Nearby clap
Other definitions for clap (2 of 2)
Origin of clap
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use clap in a sentence
Researchers thought the wing clap likely formed a pocket of air that shoots out like a jet.
Butterflies use jet propulsion for quick getaways | Alison Pearce Stevens | March 15, 2021 | Science News For StudentsThe pocket shape “dramatically improves the clap by trapping more air and creating a stronger jet.”
Butterflies use jet propulsion for quick getaways | Alison Pearce Stevens | March 15, 2021 | Science News For StudentsResearchers thought they knew how the clap worked, he notes.
Butterflies use jet propulsion for quick getaways | Alison Pearce Stevens | March 15, 2021 | Science News For StudentsPrevious research had suggested that a butterfly’s overhead wing clap forces the insect forward.
Butterflies use jet propulsion for quick getaways | Alison Pearce Stevens | March 15, 2021 | Science News For StudentsHe once joked to The Washington Post that it was “a little bit like saying you have the clap.”
Hugh Newell Jacobsen, award-winning modernist architect, dies at 91 | Kathy Orton | March 4, 2021 | Washington Post
Which is why you should: “clap along, if you feel like a room without a roof.”
The music drifted through the rain and the woman started to clap her hands and dance.
The Stacks: How Leonard Chess Helped Make Muddy Waters | Alex Belth | August 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLike, clap-my-hands-together-in-schoolgirl-like-glee over the moon to see it.
‘Orange Is the New Black’ Season 2: The Finest, Funniest, and Most Terrifying Moments of Eps. 1-6 | Kevin Fallon, Marlow Stern | June 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNo one applauded–rare on a night when hands tend to clap after every cough and sneeze.
Everyone stood up to clap in his honor, including Mao himself.
"We have a grandfather in Greenfield," spoke up the youngest child before his sister could clap her hand over his mouth.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler WarnerBut ten thousand saw Musa's hand clap to hilt, and Iftikhar's lance half fall to rest.
God Wills It! | William Stearns DavisViscount Melbourne expressed himself to the effect that the Earl of Ripon's motion came like a thunder-clap upon him.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. | E. Farr and E. H. NolanYou had a very fair clap-trap against us, as we happened to be master manufacturers, in saying that we wanted to reduce wages.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. | E. Farr and E. H. NolanYou can't clap a new head on to old shoulders without upsetting circulation and equilibrium.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2 | Ian Hamilton
British Dictionary definitions for clap (1 of 2)
/ (klæp) /
to make or cause to make a sharp abrupt sound, as of two nonmetallic objects struck together
to applaud (someone or something) by striking the palms of the hands together sharply
(tr) to strike (a person) lightly with an open hand, in greeting, encouragement, etc
(tr) to place or put quickly or forcibly: they clapped him into jail
(of certain birds) to flap (the wings) noisily
(tr; foll by up or together) to contrive or put together hastily: they soon clapped up a shed
clap eyes on informal to catch sight of
clap hold of informal to grasp suddenly or forcibly
the sharp abrupt sound produced by striking the hands together
the act of clapping, esp in applause: he deserves a good clap
a sudden sharp sound, esp of thunder
a light blow
archaic a sudden action or mishap
Origin of clap
1British Dictionary definitions for clap (2 of 2)
/ (klæp) /
the clap a slang word for gonorrhoea
Origin of clap
2Collins 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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