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clapped-out
clapped-outadjective(of machinery or appliances) worn-out; dilapidated.
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clapped out
clapped outadjective(clapped-out when prenominal) (esp of machinery) worn out; dilapidated
clapped-out
Americanadjective
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(of machinery or appliances) worn-out; dilapidated.
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(of a person) exhausted; fatigued.
adjective
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informal (clapped-out when prenominal) (esp of machinery) worn out; dilapidated
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extremely tired; exhausted
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
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.