clapboard
/ˈklæpˌbɔɹd/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.15 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A narrow board, usually thicker at one edge than the other, used as siding for houses and similar structures of frame construction.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Such boards, arranged horizontally and overlapping with thick edge down, collectively, as siding.
Uncountable
noun
A clapperboard; a device used in film production, having hinged boards that are brought together with a clap, used to synchronize picture and sound at the start of each take of a motion picture or other video production.
Example Sentences
- "Its exterior is covered with clapboards stained dark brown."
- "As the train wound along the river valleys through western Pennsylvania the scenery grew more rugged and the painted houses of Lancaster County gave way to dirty clapboard dwellings and shack homes clinging to the mountainside."
- "Bond turned to the window and watched the pretty clapboard houses slip by as they approached Trenton. He loved trains and he looked forward with excitement to the rest of the journey."
- "to clapboard the sides of a house"
Etymology
From Middle English clapholt, partial translation from Middle Low German klappholt or Middle Dutch klapholt (“barrel stave”), from klappen (“to crack”) + holt (“wood”). The part "holt" was later calqued to "board".
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: clapholt, klappholt, klapholt
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈklæpˌbɔɹd/
- British English: /ˈklæpˌbɔːd/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- British usage
- Archaic
- Transitive verb