Meanings
comparative more clapped out · superlative most clapped out · alternative clapped-out
- CommonwealthIrelandUKslangExhausted, worn out.
For now, the intensive Valleys services remain in the hands of increasingly clapped-out Class 150/2s.
2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 491 more example
Accusations of letting a service run down deliberately will always be made if, to quote one local case, a mostly empty mid-day train continues to run, while in the same service an early morning train is discontinued, causing: (a) six men to lose their jobs; (b) four men to go on to permanent night shift by the grace of their employer; and (c) four others to buy a clapped-out van between them to get to work.
1964 November, E. N. Bellass, “Some questions for Mr. Mugliston”, in Modern Railways, pages 329–330
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveworn from age or heavy use and no longer able to operate (of cars or machines or people)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Spanish destartalado, desvencijado
- destartaladoTranslations
- desvencijadoTranslations
Cite this entry
clapped out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clapped%20out
“clapped out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clapped%20out. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clapped out,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clapped%20out.
Source: clapped out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.