afterclap

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   An additional adverse event that occurs unexpectedly after an earlier one was thought to…

   An additional adverse event that occurs unexpectedly after an earlier one was thought to be over and done with.

   • […] immediatly after the Vniuersall deluge, Nimrod […] perswaded the people to secure themselues from the like after-claps, by building some stupendious Edifice, which might resist the fury of a second deluge.
   • What plaguy mischiefs and mishaps Do dog him still with after-claps!
   • AFTERCLAPS, unpleasant things coming after affairs which were supposed ended.
2. 2

   An unfavourable turn of events following a favourable situation

   An unfavourable turn of events following a favourable situation; an eventuality for which one ought to be prepared.

   • […] as cookes among all their sawces doo mind nothing lesse than sobernesse: so these in the abundance of their ioies, thought nothing of afterclaps […]
   • To spare a little for an after clappe Were not improuidence.
   • 1770, Thomas Bridges, A Burlesque Translation of Homer, London: S. Hooper, 3rd ed., Volume I, p. 7, May you all live to see Troy out, And when you’ve storm’d the Trojan gaps, May you escape all after-claps.
3. 3

   The consequence (often, but not always, adverse) of an action or event.

   • 1753, uncredited translator, The School of Man, London: Lockyer Davis, 2nd ed., pp. 102-103, […] he loves Pleasure; but then, without any Afterclap; fain would he be gathering Roses, but he’s afraid of the Prickles.
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   1. 4

      A phenomenon occurring after a similar earlier one

      A phenomenon occurring after a similar earlier one; a later manifestation of something.

      • Emerson spoke of the Mormons. Some one had said, “They impress the common people, through their imagination, by Bible-names and imagery.” “Yes,” he said, “it is an after-clap of Puritanism. […]”
   2. 5

      A sound that follows another, especially a loud noise, such as thunder.

      • […] these Thunder-claps so dreadful before, that proceeded from the shock he gave its Enemy, were no more now but the dull Sound of those little After-claps, which denote the end of a Storm;
      • […] the storm wore gradually away, now and then only a faint after-clap grumbled in the distance […]
      • The first movement opens with a statement, in a bold orchestral unison, of the main theme […], the phraseology of which, in four measures, with an after clap or “echo” of the fourth, is characteristic and should be noted.
   3. 6

      A symptom of an illness, especially one that appears after the initial onset

      A symptom of an illness, especially one that appears after the initial onset; an illness or symptom caused by exposure to a substance, an injury, etc.

      • For such as haue this Gonorrhaea, neuer suspecting or fearing the afterclaps, suffer their disease, to grow on further and further till their cure will very hardly or neuer be accomplished.
      • […] we are not so stupid and zealously Lunatick, as not to fear the frequent Afterclaps (Feavers, Dropsies, Surfeits,) of high and constant debaucheries […]
   4. 7

      Urethral discharge as a symptom of gonorrhea.

      • […] I have known instances where the gonorrhœa has ceased without leaving any after-clap, or gleet,
      • 1877, William Morgan, Contagious Diseases, London: The Homœopathic Publishing Company, Part 1, p. 35, […] the fourth stage of the complaint, known as a “gleet,” or afterclap.
   5. 8

      A change or attempted change to an agreement after it has been entered into

      A change or attempted change to an agreement after it has been entered into; an additional charge (especially one over and above the previously agreed-upon price).

      • […] he produced my Accompt in his Book, and very generously crossed it out, but I desired a Receipt to prevent any After-claps, which he readily granted, and then I very lovingly took my Leave of him.
   6. 9

      A child born after the one that was intended to be the last.

      • […] there are only two girls. No after claps, like my sister Gresham’s little ‘Teddy;’ […]
      • He was his parents’ Benjamin, the afterclap which had come to them almost in their old age, and was in some sort different to them from their older sons.
   7. 10

      A sweet food, drink, or tobacco product consumed at the end of a meal.

      • Never speak of dinner as “grub,” “hash” or “trough-time,” nor refer to the dessert as “an after-clap.”
      • 1936, Fulton Oursler (as Anthony Abbot), Murder of a Startled Lady, London: Collins, Chapter 7, p. 272, […] we went on in silence to partake of this never-to-be-forgotten luncheon […] and, as a fitting after-clap, a liqueur from Avignon,
   8. 11

      A canvas curtain or tailboard at the rear of a covered wagon.

      • And now the “after-clap” of the wagon was hurriedly drawn aside, and three young faces were seen peeping forth.
      • 1905, Reginald Fenton, A Peculiar People in a Pleasant Land, Girard, KS: The Pretoria Publishing Company, Chapter 7, p. 98, […] he felt for his gun, and began fumbling at the fastenings of the afterclap.
      • He was mending the afterclap of the wagon, stitching it up where it was torn, and they [the children] were helping him and playing about him.

The neighborhood

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