Clapping

How to spell clapping

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce clapping

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does clapping mean?

1. verbStriking the palms of the hands together repeatedly to show approval or to make a sharp sound.

Clapping in a sentence

• The audience kept clapping long after the final bow.

• She stopped clapping when the lights dimmed for the next act.

Where does clapping come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word clapping is the present participle of clap, a verb that goes back to the Old English clappian, meaning 'to throb, beat, or strike noisily'. It is one of a large family of echoic words across the Germanic languages, including Old Norse klappa 'to pat or stroke', and the sound of the word itself imitates the sharp noise it describes. From the early sense of striking or beating, English narrowed it over the centuries to the familiar action of bringing the palms together to make applause. The doubled p in clapping follows the regular English rule that a short stressed vowel before a single final consonant doubles that consonant when -ing is added, the same pattern seen in 'stopping' and 'running'. That doubling is the only real spelling point to watch, since a single p would suggest a long vowel as in 'gaping'.

How the word is built

• clap (to strike hands together)
• -ing (present participle / verbal noun suffix)