clap up
C1 formal separable transitive
In simple words
To put someone in jail very quickly.
Literal meaning: To shut something up quickly with a clapping motion (like slamming a lid or door shut).
Meanings
1 C1
idiomatic
formal
To imprison or put someone in confinement, especially quickly and without much process.
"The magistrate had him clapped up in the debtor's prison before nightfall."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Largely archaic. Found in historical texts, literature, and legal writing from the 17th–19th centuries. Rarely used in modern everyday speech. May also refer to sealing or closing something shut.
Commonly used with
prisoner debtor suspect criminal dissenter
Forms
Base
clap up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
claps up
he/she/it
Past simple
claped up
yesterday
Past participle
claped up
have + pp
-ing form
claping up
continuous
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