CLAP (clapped, clapping)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: clapped    , clapping   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clap mean? 

• CLAP (noun)
  The noun CLAP has 3 senses:

1. a sudden very loud noise

2. a common venereal disease caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae; symptoms are painful urination and pain around the urethra

3. a sharp abrupt noise as if two objects hit together; may be repeated

  Familiarity information: CLAP used as a noun is uncommon.

• CLAP (verb)
  The verb CLAP has 7 senses:

1. put quickly or forcibly

2. cause to strike the air in flight

3. clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval

4. clap one's hands together

5. strike the air in flight

6. strike with the flat of the hand; usually in a friendly way, as in encouragement or greeting

7. strike together so as to produce a sharp percussive noise

  Familiarity information: CLAP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLAP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sudden very loud noise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bam; bang; blast; clap; eruption

Hypernyms ("clap" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clap"):

water hammer (the banging sound of steam in pipes)

Derivation:

clap (strike together so as to produce a sharp percussive noise)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A common venereal disease caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae; symptoms are painful urination and pain around the urethra

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

clap; gonorrhea; gonorrhoea

Hypernyms ("clap" is a kind of...):

Cupid's disease; Cupid's itch; dose; sexually transmitted disease; social disease; STD; VD; venereal disease; venereal infection; Venus's curse (a communicable infection transmitted by sexual intercourse or genital contact)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sharp abrupt noise as if two objects hit together; may be repeated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

clack; clap

Hypernyms ("clap" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

clap (strike together so as to produce a sharp percussive noise)

• CLAP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they clap    ... he / she / it claps   
Past simple: clapped   
Past participle: clapped   
-ing form: clapping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put quickly or forcibly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The judge clapped him in jail

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to strike the air in flight

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The big bird clapped its wings

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

beat; flap (move with a thrashing motion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

acclaim; applaud; clap; spat

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

"Clap" entails doing...:

approve; O.K.; okay; sanction (give sanction to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clap"):

bravo (applaud with shouts of 'bravo' or 'brava')

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

clapper (someone who applauds)

clapping (a demonstration of approval by clapping the hands together)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Clap one's hands together

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

clap; spat

Context example:

The children were clapping to the music

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

clapper (someone who applauds)

clapping (a demonstration of approval by clapping the hands together)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Strike the air in flight

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

the wings of the birds clapped loudly

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

beat; flap (move with a flapping motion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Strike with the flat of the hand; usually in a friendly way, as in encouragement or greeting

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Strike together so as to produce a sharp percussive noise

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

clap two boards together

Hypernyms (to "clap" is one way to...):

hit (cause to move by striking)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

clap (a sudden very loud noise)

clap (a sharp abrupt noise as if two objects hit together; may be repeated)

clapper (metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side)

 Context examples 

"I never clapped eyes on him," was the reply.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistol from the table.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"And I shall get back to Kansas," cried Dorothy, clapping her hands.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

I was unable to remain for a single instant in the same place; I jumped over the chairs, clapped my hands, and laughed aloud.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

When the work was done, the fox clapped the horse on the shoulder, and said, “Jip! Dobbin! Jip!”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a spontaneous impulse, we both broke at clapping, as at the well-wrought crisis of a play.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I can shoot you now, as I stand here; and if you are so minded, just go ahead and try to clap on the hatch.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Here Marianne, in an ecstasy of indignation, clapped her hands together, and cried, "Gracious God! can this be possible!"

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

“Now, Morgan,” said Long John very sternly, “you never clapped your eyes on that Black—Black Dog before, did you, now?”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)