clap

• IPA^(key): /klæp/
• Rhymes: -æp

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From Middle English clappen, from Old English clæppan, from Proto-Germanic *klappōną. Cognate with Dutch klappen, Icelandic klappa, Faroese klappa and Danish klappe.

clap (plural claps)

1. The act of striking the palms of the hands, or any two surfaces, together.

   He summoned the waiter with a clap.

2. The explosive sound of thunder.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[[Episode 12: The Cyclops]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     The deafening claps of thunder and the dazzling flashes of lightning which lit up the ghastly scene testified that the artillery of heaven had lent its supernatural pomp to the already gruesome spectacle.

   • 1953 July, Allen Rowley, “First Impressions of American Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 493:

     With each clap of thunder echoing from one high building to another the noise was terrific.

3. Any loud, sudden, explosive sound made by striking hard surfaces together, or resembling such a sound.

   Off in the distance, he heard the clap of thunder.

   • 1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “Directions to Servants”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC:

     Give the door such a clap, as you go out, as will shake the whole room.

4. A slap with the hand, usually in a jovial manner.

   His father's affection never went further than a handshake or a clap on the shoulder.

5. A single, sudden act or motion; a stroke; a blow.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

     What, fifty of my followers at a clap!

   • 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC:

     But it took him a long time to get down-stairs, and a still longer to undo the fastenings, repenting (I dare say) and taken with fresh claps of fear at every second step and every bolt and bar.

6. (falconry) The nether part of the beak of a hawk.
7. (Yorkshire) A dropping of cow dung (presumably from the sound made as it hits the ground) ^[1]
   • 1890, John Nicholson, Folk Lore of East Yorkshire, page 139:

     “Oh! get some coo clap (cow dung), mix it wi’ fish oil (whale oil), put it on, and let it stop on all neet.”

• (sound of thunder): thunderclap
• See also Thesaurus:applause

• clap skate

clap (third-person singular simple present claps, present participle clapping, simple past and past participle clapped or (archaic) clapt)

1. (intransitive) To strike the palms of the hands together, creating a sharp sound.

   The children began to clap in time with the music.

2. (transitive) To applaud.

   The audience loudly clapped the actress, who responded with a deep curtsey.

   It isn’t the singers they are clapping; it's the composer.

3. (transitive) To slap with the hand in a jovial manner.

   He would often clap his teammates on the back for encouragement.

4. (transitive, intransitive) To bring two surfaces together forcefully, creating a sharp sound.

   He clapped the empty glass down on the table.

   She clapped the book shut.

   He clapped across the floor in his boots.

   • 1681, Andrew Marvell, The Garden:

     Then like a bird it sits and sings, / Then whets and claps its silver wings.

   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “He is Concerned in a Dangerous Adventure with a Certain Gardener; […]”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume I, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC, page 134:

     […] Pipes, who acted as the enemy's forlorn hope, advanced to the gate with great intrepidity, and clapping his foot to the door, which was none of the ſtouteſt, with the execution and diſpatch of a petard, ſplit it into a thouſand pieces.

5. (obsolete) To slam (a door or window); formerly often construed with to.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:

     Hostesse clap to the doores.

   • 1677 (first performance), John Dryden, All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, […], [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

     The doors around me clapped.

   • 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. VII, letter 119:

     Her fear gave her strength; she threw Laura away, and clapped to the door.

6. (transitive) To create or assemble (something) hastily (usually followed by up or together).

   We should clap together a shelter before nightfall.

   The rival factions clapped up a truce.

7. (transitive) To set or put, usually in haste.

   The sheriff clapped him in jail.

   She was the prettiest thing I'd ever clapped eyes on.

   • 1693, [John Locke], “§138”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:

     He had just time to get in and clap to the door.

   • 1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC:

     Clap an extinguisher upon your irony.

8. (slang, African-American Vernacular) To shoot (somebody) with a gun.
9. (slang) To have sex, fornicate, copulate.
10. (transitive, slang) To defeat.

    He started a fight but then got clapped immediately.

• applaud
• applause

Uncertain. Probably from Old French clapoir (“bubo, inflammation from infection”), from clapier (“brothel”). May also be from old, unsafe treatments for gonnorhea, such as clapping the penis between a book and a hard surface to break up obstructions in the urethra and permit urination. Attested from the 16th century.^[2][3]

clap

1. (slang, usually with "the") Gonorrhea.
   • 1821 [1580 November 30], Alexander Montgomerie, “The Flyting”, in The Poems of Alexander Montgomery‎^[1], page 115:

     With the mischiefe of the melt and maw, / The clape and the canker,—

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 172:

     I stepped out of my tent in Marrakech one night to get a bar of candy and caught your dose of clap when that Wac I never even saw before hissed me into the bushes.

   • 1972, Richard Hooker, MASH‎^[2], page 32:

     “What in hell makes you think he's got the clap?” Hawkeye asked. “Even a clap doctor can't diagnose it through a parka

   • 1980, Ruth Bell, Changing Bodies, Changing Lives, page 295:

     He thought I had given him the clap [gonorrhea], but I knew I didn't.

   • 1998, Dan Savage, Savage Love, page 229:

     When I explained that I thought he had given me the clap, he said I must be mistaken, it had to be someone I'd “tricked” with at ... He'd never had an STD in his life, he told me, and slammed down the phone.

   • [2006, Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, Laura Silverstein Nunn, The STDs Update, page 40:

     Gonorrhea, sometimes called the clap, is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae.]

• calp

Uncertain.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈklap]

clap m (plural claps)

1. patch
2. clearing, opening

   un clap de cel ― a break in the clouds

• a claps
• clapar

• clapa

• “clap” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

• IPA^(key): /klap/

• Audio:

  (file)

clap m (plural claps)

1. clapperboard

clap

1. Alternative form of clappe

clap

1. Alternative form of clappen

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈklap/

clap m (plural claps)

1. stone

• aclapar
• aclap
• clapàs
• clapassièr
• clapassejar
• clapassilha
• clapièr
• clapilha
• clapeirar