clapboard

[ klab-erd, klap-bawrd, ‐bohrd ]

/ ˈklæb ərd, ˈklæpˌbɔrd, ‐ˌboʊrd /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR clapboard ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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

adjective

of or made of clapboard: a clapboard house.

Words nearby clapboard

clap, clap eyes on, clap on, clap skate, clap-net, clapboard, clapham sect, clapometer, clapped out, clapped-out, clapper

Origin of clapboard

1510–20; earlier clap bord, alteration of obsolete clapholt < Low German klappholt (cognate with Dutch klaphout) split wood used for barrel staves; see clap¹, holt

Definition for clapboard (2 of 2)

clapboard²

[ klap-bawrd, -bohrd ]

/ ˈklæpˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun Movies.

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.

Origin of clapboard

clap¹ + board

Also called clapper board, clap·stick

[klap-stik] /ˈklæpˌstɪk/.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for clapboard

The taxi trundles away from the train station passing rows of gray houses with clapboard shutters into the French countryside.
How the French Do Detox: Inside France’s Most Star-Studded Wellness Retreat|Brandon Presser|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Clapboard alternated with hastily constructed sheet-metal buildings with no room between.
Captives of the Flame|Samuel R. Delany
The patter, patter, and after a while the gurgling of little streams over the clapboard eaves.
A Maid of the Kentucky Hills|Edwin Carlile Litsey
It was a clapboard structure covered with a reed roof, and eighteen by thirty feet in size.
The Old Furniture Book|N. Hudson Moore

A third day was commonly spent by a few carpenters in leveling off the floor, making a clapboard door and a table.
Life & Times of Col. Daniel Boone|Cecil B. Hartley
One of us held the thread on the window-sill while the other kept throwing the wad until it struck the clapboard.
The Story of a Strange Career|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for clapboard

clapboard

/ (ˈklæpˌbɔːd, ˈklæbəd) /

noun

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
(as modifier)a clapboard house

verb

(tr) to cover with such boards

Word Origin for clapboard

C16: partial translation of Low German klappholt, from klappen to crack + holt wood; related to Dutch claphout; see board

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