1
as in bang
a loud explosive sound
a clap of thunder that woke the whole house up
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in thump
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
a sharp clap to the head of the disrespectful youth
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to slap
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
clapped him on the back as a friendly gesture
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clap
Selome Hailu, Variety, 20 Nov. 2024
In addition, Iron Man has a Nano-Shield; Ironheart has a Heartbeat Bubble forcefield to protect people, and Iron Hulk has his strong Iron Boom clap and Iron Hulk Stomp.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 15 Oct. 2024
Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 25 Jan. 2025
Almost immediately, the attendees heard it and started clapping along, giving the dancers the extra encouragement to finish their performance.
—Michelle L. Quinn, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clap
Noun
Domingo stops himself, bringing his hands together in a single clap.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 20 Nov. 2024
In addition, Iron Man has a Nano-Shield; Ironheart has a Heartbeat Bubble forcefield to protect people, and Iron Hulk has his strong Iron Boom clap and Iron Hulk Stomp.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 15 Oct. 2024
Verb
Video footage released by Israel's Defense Forces showed the hostages' families clapping and crying as their daughters crossed into Israel.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 25 Jan. 2025
Almost immediately, the attendees heard it and started clapping along, giving the dancers the extra encouragement to finish their performance.
—Michelle L. Quinn, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clap
Noun
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Dramatic videos of the explosion in the city of Taichung, on the island’s west coast, showed debris and large panels of a mid-rise building’s exterior blown out as a loud bang is heard.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN,
13 Feb. 2025
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Curtain bangs do this for two reasons, Elbaum says.—
Lauren Valenti,
Vogue,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Outlook Single Double Triple Homer Texas moved quickly to bring in Pederson after trading Nathaniel Lowe, sacrificing a lot of fielding value but maintaining similar left-handed thump for the lineup.—
Tim Britton,
The Athletic,
12 Feb. 2025
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Talanoa Hufanga against the run The Niners’ veteran safety provided serious thump and steady run fits to help San Francisco’s defense keep the Rams out of the end zone in this game.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
The Mercury News,
12 Dec. 2024
Verb
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On the red carpet of the American Black Film Festival Honors in Los Angeles on Feb. 17, the 75-year-old actress told PEOPLE about filming the moment in which her character, Patti, slapped her daughter Angela (Taraji P. Henson) across the face during a heated confrontation on season 2 of Eli Stone.—
Stephanie Wenger,
People.com,
18 Feb. 2025
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Just ask comedian Chris Rock, who was unceremoniously slapped by Will Smith during the 2022 Oscars after cracking a joke about the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA TODAY,
16 Feb. 2025
Noun
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That called into question all the spending Wall Street had assumed would go into not only Nvidia’s chips but also the ecosystem that’s built around the AI boom, including electricity to power large data centers.—
Stan Choe,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2025
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Jensen Huang, the co-founder of Nvidia, the company whose chips lie at the heart of the AI boom, was born in Taiwan and moved to the United States at age nine.—
Matthew J. Slaughter,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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However, this is a huge win for City and a devastating blow for England’s top flight.—
Dan Sheldon,
The Athletic,
15 Feb. 2025
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The new season of Kitchen Nightmares has seen the star chef come to blows with restaurant owners over practices such as sending out raw hamburgers and (in last week’s episode) appearing to give customers food poisoning.—
Bailey Richards,
People.com,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Reese smacked Clark in the head with her arm while trying to block a shot in their first WNBA meeting June 1.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
14 Feb. 2025
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The future — mechanical, intelligent, overwhelming — is today smacking us in the face.—
Colin Demarest,
Axios,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Prosecutors said Jose Menendez was struck five times, including in the back of the head, and Kitty Menendez crawled on the floor wounded before the brothers reloaded and fired a final, fatal blast.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2025
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Diseases such as wheat blast in Asia, which is projected to reduce global wheat production by 13% until 2050, potato blight in Europe, and rugose virus in Australia have all infiltrated new regions due to warmer temperatures and fluctuating humidity.—
Valeria Kogan,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Wall Street concluded an already softer week with a thud Friday after the December jobs report came in much hotter than expected.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
12 Jan. 2025
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Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan reported hearing thuds and explosions from outside the aircraft during the flight, as the cause of the deadly catastrophe remains under investigation.—
Dragana Jovanovic,
ABC News,
28 Dec. 2024
Articles Related to clap
Cite this Entry
“Clap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clap. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.
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