Contextualizebeta

claptrap

noun
/ˈklæpˌtɹæp/UK

Etymology

Theater slang, c. 1730, from clap + trap, referring to theatrical techniques or gags used to incite applause.

Definitions

  1. Empty verbiage or nonsense.

  2. A device for producing a clapping sound in theaters.

  3. A device or trick to gain applause

    A device or trick to gain applause; a humbug.

    • There had been a suggestion that the child should be with her [while she answers the door], but the mother herself had rejected this. "It would be stagey," she had said, "and clap-trap. There is nothing I hate so much as that."

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for claptrap. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA