Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Clap

Clap (klăp), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clapped (klăpt); p. pr. & vb. n. Clapping.] [AS. clappan; akin to Icel. & Sw. klappa, D, klappen, to clap, prate, G. klaffen, v. i., to split open, yelp, klopfen, v. t. & i., to knock.] 1. To strike; to slap; to strike, or strike together, with a quick motion, so, as to make a sharp noise; as, to clap one's hands; a clapping of wings.

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

2. To thrust, drive, put, or close, in a hasty or abrupt manner; — often followed by to, into, on, or upon.

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

Clap an extinguaisher upon your irony. Lamb.

3. To manifest approbation of, by striking the hands together; to applaud; as, to clap a performance.

To clap hands. (a) To pledge faith by joining hands. [Obs.] Shak. (b) To express contempt or derision. [Obs.] Lam. ii. 15. — To clap hold of, to seize roughly or quickly. — To clap up. (a) To imprison hastily or without due formality. (b) To make or contrive hastily. [Obs.] "Was ever match clapped up so suddenly?" Shak.

Clap (klăp), v. i. 1. To knock, as at a door. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. To strike the hands together in applause.

Their ladies bid them clap. Shak.

3. To come together suddenly with noise.

The doors around me clapped. Dryden.

4. To enter with alacrity and briskness; — with to or into. [Obs.] "Shall we clap into it roundly, without . . . saying we are hoarse?" Shak.

5. To talk noisily; to chatter loudly. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Clap (klăp), n. 1. A loud noise made by sudden collision; a bang. "Give the door such a clap, as you go out, as will shake the whole room." Swift.

2. A burst of sound; a sudden explosion.

Horrible claps of thunder. Hakewill.

3. A single, sudden act or motion; a stroke; a blow.

What, fifty of my followers at a clap! Shak.

4. A striking of hands to express approbation.

Unextrected claps or hisses. Addison.

5. Noisy talk; chatter. [Obs.] Chaucer.

6. (Falconry) The nether part of the beak of a hawk.

Clap dish. See Clack dish, under Clack, n. — Clap net, a net for taking birds, made to close or clap together.

Clap (klăp), n. [Cf. OF. clapoir.] Gonorrhea.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.