(of machinery or appliances) worn-out; dilapidated.
(of a person) exhausted; fatigued.
informal (clapped-out when prenominal) (esp of machinery) worn out; dilapidated
extremely tired; exhausted
First recorded in 1945–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
The pristine records they produce belie the frankly rather clapped-out looking machines that continue to manufacture them.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 25, 2010
“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
Dr Harry Bennett, an associate honorary professor at the University of Plymouth and an expert in World War Two history, said it was "clapped out" as a merchant ship by the start of the conflict.
From BBC ● May 3, 2025
"What's the safest way to do this? I'm not trying to get clapped out," Bogdanski said.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2023
“Hi, my name is Anna,” she chanted, as she clapped out a rhythm that the others repeated back to her: “Ba-BAH-ba-ba-BAH.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2022
They tumble exhausted from clapped out lorries and cars that have barely made the journey.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 10, 2017
Highboy danced while Buddy and Portia clapped out the rhythm.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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.
