"like the clappers" meaning in English

See like the clappers in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: En-au-like the clappers.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Partridge says: "Possibly rhyming slang for 'clappers of a bell', 'hell'." Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} like the clappers, {{en-PP}} like the clappers
  1. (simile, UK, informal) Very hard or very rapidly. Tags: UK, informal Synonyms: like the clappers of fuck, like the clappers of hell Translations (very hard or rapidly): a tota llet (Catalan), in einem Affentempo [colloquial] (German), sehr schnell (German), wie die Feuerwehr (english: fahren (drive)) [colloquial] (German), a toda leche (Spanish), escopetado [colloquial, masculine] (Spanish)

Download JSON data for like the clappers meaning in English (3.3kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Partridge says: \"Possibly rhyming slang for 'clappers of a bell', 'hell'.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "like the clappers",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "like the clappers",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English similes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "After hurling their insults, they ran like the clappers to get away."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Diana Gittins, Madness in its Place: Narratives of Severalls Hospital, 1913-1997",
          "text": "And when it started off they first studied them, and of course they went like the clappers to prove what they could do, which was the thing they shouldn't be doing because it was a study, and of course, they've got to work like the clappers all the time once it came into operation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, The Bulletin, volumes 6264-6271",
          "text": "We've gone through regional and rural Australia like the clappers, and everywhere we went, irate voters shouted at us and we stuck our heads out the windows and shouted: \"What?\" and the electorate respected us for it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Kerry Greenwood, Murder in the Dark",
          "text": "In fact she made quite a nice little rider — a bit rough, like these Australians always were, but quite secure in her seat and going like the clappers.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Very hard or very rapidly."
      ],
      "id": "en-like_the_clappers-en-prep_phrase-bSYdyvP4",
      "links": [
        [
          "hard",
          "hard#Adverb"
        ],
        [
          "rapidly",
          "rapidly"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile, UK, informal) Very hard or very rapidly."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "like the clappers of fuck"
        },
        {
          "word": "like the clappers of hell"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
          "word": "a tota llet"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "in einem Affentempo"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
          "word": "sehr schnell"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "english": "fahren (drive)",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "wie die Feuerwehr"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
          "word": "a toda leche"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "escopetado"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-like the clappers.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3c/En-au-like_the_clappers.ogg/En-au-like_the_clappers.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/En-au-like_the_clappers.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "like the clappers"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Partridge says: \"Possibly rhyming slang for 'clappers of a bell', 'hell'.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "like the clappers",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "like the clappers",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English manner adverbs",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English similes",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "After hurling their insults, they ran like the clappers to get away."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Diana Gittins, Madness in its Place: Narratives of Severalls Hospital, 1913-1997",
          "text": "And when it started off they first studied them, and of course they went like the clappers to prove what they could do, which was the thing they shouldn't be doing because it was a study, and of course, they've got to work like the clappers all the time once it came into operation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, The Bulletin, volumes 6264-6271",
          "text": "We've gone through regional and rural Australia like the clappers, and everywhere we went, irate voters shouted at us and we stuck our heads out the windows and shouted: \"What?\" and the electorate respected us for it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Kerry Greenwood, Murder in the Dark",
          "text": "In fact she made quite a nice little rider — a bit rough, like these Australians always were, but quite secure in her seat and going like the clappers.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Very hard or very rapidly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hard",
          "hard#Adverb"
        ],
        [
          "rapidly",
          "rapidly"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile, UK, informal) Very hard or very rapidly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-like the clappers.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3c/En-au-like_the_clappers.ogg/En-au-like_the_clappers.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/En-au-like_the_clappers.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "like the clappers of fuck"
    },
    {
      "word": "like the clappers of hell"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
      "word": "a tota llet"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "in einem Affentempo"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
      "word": "sehr schnell"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "english": "fahren (drive)",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "wie die Feuerwehr"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
      "word": "a toda leche"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "very hard or rapidly",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "escopetado"
    }
  ],
  "word": "like the clappers"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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