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Glite Dictionary
🪵 A siding board 🏠 To cover with boards 🎬 A film marker
clapboard

clapboard

7.6
A board with a hinged stick used to mark a film take and match sound with picture
  • noun
  • /ˈklæbˌbɔrd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pizarra
  • With a swift motion, he held the clapboard up to mark the start of the take.

You are professional Clapper now with a clapboard.

Examples

  • A young man with a clapboard steps in front of the camera. # CAMERA ASSISTANT #

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The Clapper/Loader's clapboard reads: Scream 4.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The houses are clapboard, pink, and yellow.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The Clapper/Loader holds a clapboard in front of Ben's face.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • INT. SET APT. DAY. B/W Camera is close on the black-and-white clapboard.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The director signaled for quiet as the assistant prepared the clapboard for the next scene.

  • Before filming, she wrote the scene number on the clapboard to synchronize sound and picture.

Synonyms

clapperboard
vsclapboard
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Two boards joined at one end that people clap to mark the start of a film take

uses a single board with a hinged stick rather than two boards

Surface Forms

clapboard singular
clapboards plural

Morphology

clapboard = clap + board (transparent) = clap + board

The device is literally a 'board' that 'claps' (or has a clapper), so the compound's meaning is directly inferable.

Etymology

Clapboard for film comes from the loud 'clap' the hinged sticks make when they hit the board, and the tool is also called a clapperboard. So a clapboard is the board that makes a sharp sound to mark the start of a take and help match sound and picture.