How to Use clap in a Sentence
- He clapped his hand over his mouth when he realized what he had said.
- The conductor clapped her hands twice, and the musicians stopped talking and prepared to play.
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The crowd clapped and craned their necks toward the sky.
—Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
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Hold the cup in front of her and quickly clap the cup behind.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2023
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Her plays waltz, but her books clap you on the shoulder.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2022
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His folks clapped when he was done for the day, and unwrapped his hands.
—Tyler R. Tynes, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
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The staff clapped and cheered as more than 400 shoppers walked in to high fives and fist pumps.
—Maria Halkias, Dallas News, 19 July 2023
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The guitarist clapped and danced along while the teenager performed the track.
—Mary Elizabeth Andriotis, Peoplemag, 8 May 2023
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Step your right foot wide to the right and bring your arms up to clap your hands overhead.
—Jenny McCoy, SELF, 26 Feb. 2022
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Then as the Suns were pulling away, Ayton was clapping from the bench.
—Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic, 6 May 2023
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Sometimes, the trio clapped along to the deafening beats of pans and drums.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2023
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The challenge ahead is whether customers will want to clap along on the one and three or on the two and four.
—Eric Fuller, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2021
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Three men clapped and urged others to join, but no one else did.
—Ellen Francis, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
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And every night the boys would go to the bottom of the stairs where the girls’ dressing room was to clap them down.
—Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Nov. 2023
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The audience is, of course, allowed to laugh and clap—but that’s it.
—Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 June 2023
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Solange Knowles clapped and smiled for her son during the show's finale.
—USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024
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When the evacuees drive up, all the volunteers cheer and clap.
—TIME, 16 Oct. 2023
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Throughout the film, there was a certain amount of dancing in the aisles, and clapping at the ends of songs.
—Jonathan Gould, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2023
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Dozens of Democrats crowded to the front, clapping and cheering for Schiff and patting him on the back.
—Time, 22 June 2023
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And the children were laughing and clapping during the film.
—Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 24 Feb. 2023
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People waved flags, crowds chanted and clapped, and cars honked their horns.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 5 Oct. 2023
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Jordan and Johnson sat at their table while the staff sang and clapped.
—Matt Goul, cleveland, 13 July 2023
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In one of the videos, a small boat can be seen in the distance and people aboard the cruise ship are heard clapping, whistling and cheering.
—Antonio Planas, NBC News, 28 June 2023
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Participants were asked to clap and cheer but not to honk their horns.
—Baltimore Sun, 30 Mar. 2023
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Father Moisés asked those in the back to fill the empty seats in the front and, clapping his hands, began the opening hymn.
—Bishop Sand, Washington Post, 17 Feb. 2024
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People were clapping, people stood up and matched the steps.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 27 Dec. 2023
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The observer claps to the beat as the two players try to tap the cup in rhythm, while attempting to trip the other up.
—Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 28 Aug. 2023
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Stacey: There’s a lot of clapping for a long time, but just surreal.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024
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Yet when people see soldiers pass, many clap or give them a thumbs-up.
—Annie Correal Federico Rios, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2024
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Television crews and fans ran alongside them, like at the Tour de France, as onlookers clapped and shouted encouragement.
—Aurelien Breeden, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
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The hand claps sound upbeat, the grooves slightly funky and the moves smooth.
—Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2023
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When the verdict was read, a clap rang out in the courtroom.
—Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2022
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Someone in a white coat gives her the shot in her left arm and Tiffany claps.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 10 Apr. 2023
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Poppa Louis Allen Jr in the background with the smash clap.
—Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 27 June 2022
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But the Hulk doesn't get all the energy from the super clap.
—WIRED, 21 Aug. 2022
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Heck, the crowd even came up with a new clap thing to do while players were at the free-throw line!
—Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Dec. 2021
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And then in a deafening clap of silence the train was gone.
—Hazlitt, 5 Oct. 2022
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The same can be said of the music: Global pop built on strong melodies and hooks, but with hand claps.
—Leila Cobo, Billboard, 15 Sep. 2023
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It’s got that glam rock feel, that hand-clap groove, big vocals.
—Gary Graff, cleveland, 10 July 2022
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Long enough for the sounds of insects and rattling grass to be joined by a clap of thunder.
—Kat Rosenfield, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2022
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The two snaps and a clap is going to get over in live arena settings.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2021
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Winger grabbed the javelin near the back of the runway, then urged the Hayward crowd into a rhythmic clap.
—oregonlive, 22 July 2022
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In the crowded lobby bar of the Dolby Theatre, things came to a stop and people did the deaf clap as well.
—Beth Harris, ajc, 28 Mar. 2022
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The song laces a thumping bass line and 808 claps with orchestral loops as SwaVay stomps all over the beat with fiery bars.
—Cydney Lee, Billboard, 17 July 2023
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Those who gathered at West 13th clap and chant Sibley’s name.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2023
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The students went through the moves of the dance, including half a K-step, a double clap, a stomp, a scuff, a quarter turn.
—Naaman Zhou, The New Yorker, 27 Nov. 2023
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When Styles comes to sit down beside him, Pine stops mid-clap, staring down at his lap with a smirk.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 Sep. 2022
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His enormous return in less than a year deserves more than a golf clap.
—Michael Cannivet, Forbes, 31 May 2021
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The ghost of my man Kafka gave a slow, cynical clap for the absurd, from far down the courthouse halls.
—Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
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This achievement garnered cheers and claps from the cast and crew of the show, who then sang happy birthday to a smiling Bill.
—Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 8 June 2023
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Give them that classic taste of Hollywood with this film clap board.
—Milan Polk, Men's Health, 30 Sep. 2022
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Coach Dan Mullen’s offense was out of sync most of the night, partly because Jones was using a hand clap to start plays.
—Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 16 Oct. 2021
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But a clap of thunder interrupts the moment, and Kate scurries to bed.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2022
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At that, Bono and Edge started a steady clap for an acapella performance of the song onstage.
—Sydney Odman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2023
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This is why a 12-decibel scratch of nails on a chalkboard sounds much louder than a clap of thunder at the same volume.
—Christian Thorsberg, Discover Magazine, 14 Aug. 2021
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Slowik introduces each with a loud clap of his hands, bringing the kitchen to attention.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 14 Nov. 2022
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And maybe like a whistle or a clap in a movie hall is reflected as a story or a tweet in the streaming universe.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Feb. 2023
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Before her jump, Canaday-Elliott got the crowd involved with claps for her jump.
—Nikstreng, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2023
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Some of Anys’ most entertaining content has been her easy clap-backs against trolls and haters.
—Cecilia D'anastasio, Wired, 31 July 2020
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Why does the riot of tones add up to nothing but a cacophony of claps, thumps, shrugs, and heavy breathing?
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clap.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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