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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

clapboard.

A narrow board, usually thicker at one edge than the other, used as siding for houses and similar structures of frame construction.

9 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈklæpˌbɔːd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈklæbəd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈklæpˌbɔɹd/General-American/ˈklæbəɹd/General-American
  1. A narrow board, usually thicker at one edge than the other, used as siding for houses and similar structures of frame construction.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Such boards, arranged horizontally and overlapping with thick edge down, collectively, as siding.

    uncountable
  3. An oak board of a size used for barrel staves.

    UK · archaic · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English clapholt, partial translation from Middle Low German klappholt or Middle Dutch klapholt (“barrel stave”), from klappen (“to crack”) + holt (“wood”). The part "holt" was later calqued to "board".

verb/ˈklæpˌbɔːd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈklæbəd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈklæpˌbɔɹd/General-American/ˈklæbəɹd/General-American
  1. To cover with clapboards.

    transitive
    to clapboard the sides of a house
Where this word comes from

From Middle English clapholt, partial translation from Middle Low German klappholt or Middle Dutch klapholt (“barrel stave”), from klappen (“to crack”) + holt (“wood”). The part "holt" was later calqued to "board".

noun/ˈklæpˌbɔː(ɹ)d/
  1. A clapperboard; a device used in film production, having hinged boards that are brought together with a clap, used to synchronize picture and sound at the start of each take of a motion picture or other video production.

Where this word comes from

From clap + board.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.