after-clap

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

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Meanings

nounafter-clap (plural after-claps)

plural after-claps

  1. alternativeAlternative form of afterclap.

    What he loses by Venus he thinks to recover by Mercury, but catches his cure as an after-clap, that commonly proves the worse disease of the two.

    1630–1680 (date of composition), 1759 (date of publication), Samuel Butler, Characters
    1 more example

    Sir:—I have long feared that by our continually worrying the ministry here with successive after-clap demands for more and more money, we should at length tire out their patience.

    1782, letter from Benjamin Franklin to Robert Morris, 9 January, 1782, published in The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin: volume VII (John Bigelow, editor; →ISBN) in 2008
Cite this entry
APA

after-clap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/after-clap

MLA

“after-clap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/after-clap. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “after-clap,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/after-clap.

Source: after-clap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.