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.

---

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.

---

clapboard British  

/ ˈklæpˌbɔːd, ˈklæbəd /

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

---

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

See Examples For:

clapboard

During the first movie, Frankel says, Blunt came in on the days she wasn’t working to watch her co-stars and even operate the clapboard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

These three-family clapboard sugar cubes, thrown up by the tens of thousands around the turn of the 20th century across all New England’s cities, are the backbone of Greater Boston’s working-class housing stock.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2025

There are clapboard houses, a main drag with businesses bearing charming vintage patina and lampposts bearing flags of the town's military veterans.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2025

Using her arms as a makeshift clapboard, a Sudanese woman in a black hijab and black-and-white caftan clapped her hands together, signaling the beginning of the rehearsal.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2024

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 "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---