clapper
[klap-er]
- a person who applauds.
- the tongue of a bell.
- Slang. the tongue.
- Usually clappers. two flat sticks held between the fingers and struck rhythmically against each other to produce abrupt, sharp sounds.
- Printing. a platen press.
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Origin of clapper
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
observerviewerbystanderfanonlookertheatergoerlookerbeholderwatcherkibitzereyewitnessseerwitnessplaygoerclapperperceiverstandeelooker-onbuzzersirenExamples from the Web for clapper
Contemporary Examples
Asked whether the National Security Agency collects “any type of data at all on millions of Americans,” Clapper said, “No, sir.”
Instead, Clapper responded with an egregious falsehood, if not an outright lie.
U.S. officials say that this time around there were three factors that swayed Clapper to support the deal.
“Like others, DNI Clapper had concerns about these individuals,” said Clapper spokesman Shawn Turner.
At least one U.S. intelligence official says that Clapper might have gotten just a bit ahead of his skis.
Western Intelligence Suspects Assad Has a Secret Chemical StockpileNoah Shachtman, Christopher Dickey
May 1, 2014
Historical Examples
Only this morning she keeps on at me wi' her questions like the clapper o' a bell.
Jan and Her JobL. Allen Harker
There was nothing for it but to tie a handkerchief round the clapper of the bell.
The Education of Eric LaneStephen McKenna
This completes the circuit again and the clapper is pulled down.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
On examining the belfry, it was discovered that some persons had carried off the clapper of the bell.
Fox's Book of MartyrsJohn Foxe
My heart beat in my temples like the clapper of an alarm-bell.
Margery [Gred], CompleteGeorg Ebers
clapper
- a person or thing that claps
- a contrivance for producing a sound of clapping, as for scaring birds
- Also called: tongue a small piece of metal suspended within a bell that causes it to sound when made to strike against its side
- a slang word for tongue (def. 1)
- go like the clappers, run like the clappers or move like the clappers British informal to move extremely fast
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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
Word Origin and History for clapper
n.
late 13c., agent noun from clap (v.). Meaning "tongue of a bell" is from late 14c. Old English had clipur. Meaning "hinged board snapped in front of a camera at the start of filming to synchronize picture and sound" is from 1940.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper