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Glite Dictionary
🤣 Physical comedy 😂 Exaggerated funny 🔨 A noise device
slapstick

slapstick

1 6.9
Two flat pieces of wood joined by a hinge that make a loud slapping sound
  • noun
  • /ˈslæpˌstɪk/
  • Jargon
translation icon : paleta
  • Less comic—if just as fit for slapstick—was her slim but full-breasted, twenty-two-year-old body—a dancer's body, really.

Examples

  • If I saw someone reading Slapstick by Vonnegut or anything by Chandler, well, I would have to talk to them.

    Blog text (23)

  • Much of the music matches the slapstick, but it does get serious where it counts.

    Blog text (3)

  • Slapstick with a screen that comes up and down all the time.

    Blog text (10)

  • The slapstick.

    Blog text (33)

  • The actor used a slapstick to create a loud noise when pretending to hit his co-star in the comedy.

  • In the play, the use of a slapstick made the audience laugh during the over-the-top fight scenes.

  • The sound of the slapstick added to the humor of the skit, making the pretend fight more entertaining.

Surface Forms

slapstick singular
slapsticks plural

Morphology

slapstick = slap + stick (transparent) = slap + stick

A direct, literal compound: a stick used to produce a slap-like sound.

Etymology

Slapstick originally named a stage tool made of two flat pieces of wood that hit each other to make a loud 'slap' sound without causing harm. That's why a slapstick is used in plays to give the sound of a punch or fall while keeping actors safe.