1
as in bang
a loud explosive sound
a clap of thunder that woke the whole house up
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025
The fans started clapping, and Rock began singing again.
—Rachel Desantis, People.com, 10 Feb. 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
The 78-year-old also posted side-by-side Super Bowl videos—one of himself with Ivanka Trump clapping alongside cheers inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; the other was of Swift being booed by the same crowd.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025
The fans started clapping, and Rock began singing again.
—Rachel Desantis, People.com, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clap
Noun
-
To get the most bang for your buck and to get the best selection of homes, Vrbo recommends booking your vacation home at least two months before travel dates.—
Meghan Overdeep,
Southern Living,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Brown wore her blonde locks in a messy updo and added in some chunky bangs a la Anderson in the '90s.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
Newsweek,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Still, despite how hip all the kids were, when the music picked up, the crowd had trouble syncing their bouncing to the thump of the beats—understandable because the StepTeam production style is based around sporadic bursts of rattling percussion with the wobbly rhythms of a mountain bike race.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
28 Feb. 2025
-
For those who want a deeper and more resonant sound, there’s a bass boost button to add more thump to the beat.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid announced a huge KO injury blow which Cope - citing anonymous sources - expects to sideline the first team starting player in question for around two months.—
Tom Sanderson,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
-
Of course, Seidler likely didn’t envision the franchise would lose its local TV partner, dealing a financial blow.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
The future — mechanical, intelligent, overwhelming — is today smacking us in the face.—
Colin Demarest,
Axios,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
The bit ended with a thud, but the thud didn’t end the bit.—
Tony Maglio,
IndieWire,
10 Feb. 2025
-
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
Articles Related to clap
Cite this Entry
“Clap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clap. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share