clapperclaw
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- verb To beat, claw, and scratch; thrash; drub.
- verb To scold; abuse with the tongue; revile.
Examples
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Now these rival rogues will clapperclaw one another, and I shall have the sport of it.
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For all these same birds did so peck, clapperclaw, and maul one another all that time, that there was the devil and all to do, and the island was in a fair way of being left without inhabitants.
Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel
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I see thou hast played me a scurvy trick, thou villainous fellow, cried the angry devil; at last I am fully resolved even to make an end of the business betwixt thee and myself about the ground, and these shall be the terms: we will clapperclaw each other, and whoever of us two shall first cry Hold, shall quit his share of the field, which shall wholly belong to the conqueror.
Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel
Note
The word 'clapperclaw' originated in the 16th century, and may have been formed by combining 'clapper,' slang for the tongue of a talkative person, and 'claw,' to tear, scratch.
