clapboard
pronunciation
How to pronounce clapboard in British English:
UK [ˈklæpbɔ:d]
How to pronounce clapboard in American English:
US [ˈklæbərd]
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- Noun:
- a long thin board with one edge thicker than the other; used as siding by lapping one board over the board below
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- Verb:
- cover with clapboards
Word Origin
- clapboard (n.)
- 1520s, partial translation of Middle Dutch klapholt (borrowed into English late 14c. as clapholt), from klappen "to fit" + Low German holt "wood, board" (see holt). Compare German Klappholz. Originally small boards of split oak, imported from northern Germany and cut by coopers to make barrel staves; the meaning "long, thin board used for roofing or to cover the exterior of wooden buildings" is from 1640s, American English.
Example
- 1. Ty stayed in the white clapboard bungalow he 'd lived in with his wife .
- 2. Spacious clapboard and stone colonial estate .
- 3. Spectacular new stone and clapboard masterpiece .
- 4. I want to write to confirm the agreement reached about the special m-s sound clapboard discount during june 6 talk .
- 5. A clapboard house ; a clapboard roof .