clap skate

or clapskate, klap skate

noun

1. a type of speed skate with a blade attached at the heel by a hinge, allowing the full length of the blade to remain on the ice for a longer time and increasing skating speed.

Word History and Origins

Origin of clap skate¹

First recorded in 1995–2000; loan translation of Dutch klapschaats; clap ¹( def ), skate ¹

Example Sentences

Observers say pushing is a major innovation that rivals the sport’s move to indoor competition, the introduction of the hinged “clap skate,” and the invention of the high-tech skin suit in its potential to greatly improve times.

From New York Times

However, in a clap skate, the front of the boot is hinged, allowing the back of the boot to rise off the skate.

From Los Angeles Times

Long-Track Speedskating Long-track racers use a “clap skate.”

From New York Times

He trains some of the year with the U.S. national short-track team, a highly unorthodox practice that puts him on a 111-meter oval in skates with a fixed blade rather than the long-track “clap” skate in which the heel comes off the blade.

From New York Times

The sport of speed skating is at one of those pivotal junctures, with good old tradition being upended by a Dutch contraption called the clap skate.

From Time Magazine Archive