clap

«clap» in Mova's school dictionary: To hit your hands together, usually again and again, to… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (clap, claps, clapped, clapping); noun (a clap, claps)

meaning for a pupil

1) To hit your hands together, usually again and again, to show you like something, to keep a beat or to get attention. tree →

2) A clap is one loud sharp sound, like a clap of thunder. tree →

3) To put something somewhere quickly and firmly: clap a hand over your mouth. tree →

4) "Clap eyes on" means to see. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life, people clap (applaud) at the end of a show, assembly or game to say well done. In music, we clap rhythms and beats; in phonics, clapping the syllables of a word helps you count them (but-ter-fly = 3 claps). Teachers clap a pattern to get the class's attention. In science, a clap of thunder is the sound of lightning heating the air very fast. Phrases: "clap your hands", "a round of applause / a big clap", "clap along", "a clap of thunder", "give them a clap".

examples

• Let's all clap for the winners. tree →
• Clap the syllables in "elephant": el-e-phant, three claps. tree →
• We clapped along to the music. tree →
• There was a loud clap of thunder. tree →
• The teacher clapped twice and the class went quiet. tree →
• Give Ben a big clap for his poem! tree →
• She clapped her hand over her mouth in surprise. tree →
• Count the claps: clap, clap, clap — that's three. tree →
• The Fairy clapped her hands twice. tree →

note

Regular verb, double p: clapped, clapping. "Applaud" is a more formal word for clap. In maths and music, a clap pattern can repeat: "clap, clap, pause" repeated 4 times = 8 claps.

In the corpora

• Pigeons often clap their wings together loudly as they take off, and males also clap in display flights.
• The court claps; the Queen says it proves he is guilty.
• I like your spirit.» Toad starts slowly and carefully, and the gentlemen clap: fancy a washerwoman driving so well!
• At a concert, play or assembly you stay quiet during the show and clap at the end.
• When someone performs, you listen quietly and clap at the end, because it shows respect for their effort.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «clap» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.