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  • clapped-out
    clapped-out
    adjective
    (of machinery or appliances) worn-out; dilapidated.
  • clapped out
    clapped out
    adjective
    (clapped-out when prenominal) (esp of machinery) worn out; dilapidated

clapped-out

American  
[klapt-out] / ˈklæptˈaʊt /

adjective

British Informal.
  1. (of machinery or appliances) worn-out; dilapidated.

  2. (of a person) exhausted; fatigued.


clapped out British  

adjective

  1. informal (clapped-out when prenominal) (esp of machinery) worn out; dilapidated

  2. extremely tired; exhausted

"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

Etymology

Origin of clapped-out

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

And are you technical – your clapped-out BlackBerry has been mentioned in interviews… Google helped us by digging out the 2008 version of Google Earth from their archives… and, no, I’m not technical.

From The Guardian • Jan. 15, 2017

The production, wrote Holly Williams in The Independent, "pitches its audience into a zanily macabre funfair, the traverse stage littered with clapped-out bumper cars and a giant clown's head".

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2014

For all the talk of him being too old for Edith, he doesn't seem like a clapped-out crock to me.

From Slate • Jan. 7, 2013

Spain would be given an extra year to meet its deficit targets, and allowed to receive rescue funds directly into its clapped-out banking sector without the ignominy of a full-blown bailout.

From The Guardian • Jul. 14, 2012

“Crumbs, how long does it take! The instruments are the same whether you’re flying a Barracuda dive-bomber or a clapped-out old Tiger Moth, and the flaps are automatic! Easy peasy!”

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein