handclapping

plural handclappings

1. countableuncountableThe activity of clapping hands, especially as part of a musical performance.

   With an air of having accomplished her intention, Aunt Alice sat down amid great cheers and handclappings from the opposite side.

   1904, Carolyn Wells, “The Debate”, in Patty at Home, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, page 12

   3 more examples

   The open air, like a vast bell of glass, clamped down over them, muffling the volume, reducing the impact and precision of their notes: for all its ardour, the Linfield Rhythm Quartette remained a background noise only; an accompaniment to the talk, the laughter, the sudden shouts and handclappings.

   1945, Betty Miller, On the Side of the Angels, London: Capuchin Classics, published 2012, →ISBN, page 102

   The bright smiles and handclappings which Charleston ladies bestowed upon the receding delegates were applause for an irrevocable step toward war; […]

   1950, Allan Nevins, “The Democratic Rupture”, in The Emergence of Lincoln, volumes II (Prologue to Civil War, 1859-1861), New York, N.Y.; London: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →ISBN, section VI, page 223

   But passages of traditionalist flamenco, with Mr. Giménez accompanied by six-beat handclapping, were soon overlaid with DJ Panko’s scratching or Javier Martin’s thumb-popping bass lines.

   2007 June 30, Jon Pareles, “Far Beyond Flamenco, a Zest for Rhythms (and Politics)”, in New York Times