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 clap 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; clap ¹, holt

Origin of clapboard²

clap ¹ + board

Example Sentences

The screen door hangs open, bumps against the garbage bin, and the mailbox clings lopsided to the faded milky coffee–colored clapboard that wraps the house.

From Literature

The downtown flattened out to weedy lots strewn between plain brick and wooden clapboard buildings.

From Literature

I point to the house next door, a single-story clapboard home painted dark green.

From Literature

Crooked clapboard houses stood on either side of her, weak light glowing down from their windows, their roofs piled with snow.

From Literature

Dona Elliott, 59, owns this combination country store and saloon, built in 1929 of clapboard and shingles, uphill from the river and hard by a narrow woodland road.

From Los Angeles Times