- clap (v.)
- O.E. clęppan "to throb, beat," echoic. Of thunder, late 14c. Clapper "tongue of a bell" is from 1379.
- clap (n.)
- "gonorrhea," 1587, of unknown origin, perhaps from M.E. claper, from O.Fr. clapoire, originally "rabbit burrow" but given a slang extension to "brothel." Originally also a v., "to infect with clap."