👏 To applaud 👏 A hand sound 🦠 A sexual infection 🤝 To pat warmly ⚡ A loud noise 👍 Online approval 🚪 To put quickly 🕊️ To strike wings

to clap

9 1.0

To give a light hit on someone's arm or back as a friendly sign

verb
/klæp/

: dar una palmada en la espalda

"Jesus, it's good to see you," he exclaimed, clapping Jesse on the back.

GK Barry's cheeks getting clapped in a Vauxhall Corsa.

Examples

In back, the guards stood around Bedford, shaking his hand and clapping him on the shoulder.

Fiction book (1991)
But I had hardly done that before I felt someone clap my right shoulder; it was the girl.

Fiction book (2002)
The hunter burst out laughing and came forward to clap him on the shoulder.

Fiction book (1995)
Finally, they wheeled about and stampeded out, stopping only to clap him on the back one by one.

Fiction book (1998)
You worry too much, Baltazar," Edmund added, laughing and clapping me on the shoulder.

Fiction book (1991)
In the saloon, men are clapping shoulders, shooting craps, drinking, laughing, and brawling.

Fiction book (2000)
Sonny Red, accompanied by his son Bruno and Big Trin, claps Sonny Black on the back.

Fiction book (1997)
She gave him a friendly clap on the back as a gesture of encouragement.
When the performance ended, the audience stood to clap in approval and appreciation.
As his friend shared the good news, he couldn't help but clap his hands joyfully.

Synonyms

to slap

vsto clap

492 1.0

Hit quickly with the flat part of the hand

is a friendly encouraging hand strike rather than a forceful blow

to high five

vsto clap

Informal

12 2.7

To touch or slap someone's raised hand with your own to celebrate

is a more general friendly hand strike not limited to raised hands

Idioms

a dose of the clap

Offensive

9.9

A thing that is very unpleasant or embarrassing, like a joke that is not funny

Phrasal Verbs

to clap eyes on

Archaic

1 8.0

To see someone or something for the first time

to clap on a smile

7.5

To put on a quick fake smile to hide how you feel

to clap on

7.2

To put a quick layer of something like sunscreen or paint on without care

to clap together

6.8

To make something quickly and without care using what you have

to clap up

9.8

To put something together quickly and without care

How Hard

to smack

164 3.5

to slap

492 1.0

to clap

9 1.0

to pat

110 1.0

to tap

174 1.0

Surface Forms

clap infinitive

clapped past

clapped past participle

clapping present participle

claps third person singular

Etymology

Clap here comes from the quick, flat hit that makes a short sound, so to clap someone on the arm or back is to strike them with the flat hand in a friendly or encouraging way.