clap net

noun

A net for catching birds or insects, which can be drawn closed by pulling a string.

Meanings

nounclap net (plural clap nets)

plural clap nets · alternative clap-net · alternative clapnet

  1. A net for catching birds or insects, which can be drawn closed by pulling a string.

    The clap net is the grand weapon of the entomologist : it is a large piece of muslin, four feet long, and nearly three wide.

    1835, Edward Newman, The Grammar of Entomology, page 265
    1 more example

    One day the colonel, who was very keen on hunting, took me with him when he went out to catch partridges with a clap-net [translating Tyras], an invention which impressed me very much.

    1999, Mike Mitchell, translating HJC von Grimmelshausen, Simplicissimus, II.21, Dedalus 2016, p. 158
Cite this entry
APA

clap net. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clap%20net

MLA

“clap net.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clap%20net. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clap net,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clap%20net.

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