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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Clap X to Y
The narrator recalls his childhood.
He lives with his mother, Peggotty the only maid of his house, his stern stepfather Mr. Murdstone, and Mr. Mudstone's eccentric elder sister in his late father's house.
Almost the first remarkable thing I observed in Miss Murdstone was her being constantly haunted by a suspicion that the servants had a man secreted somewhere on the premises. Under the influence of this delusion, she dived into the coal-cellar at the most untimely hours, and scarcely ever opened the door of a dark cupboard without clapping it to again, in the belief that she had got him.
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
I'd like to know what the object of "to" is.
And I'd like to know what "clap it to [Y]" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
He lives with his mother, Peggotty the only maid of his house, his stern stepfather Mr. Murdstone, and Mr. Mudstone's eccentric elder sister in his late father's house.
Almost the first remarkable thing I observed in Miss Murdstone was her being constantly haunted by a suspicion that the servants had a man secreted somewhere on the premises. Under the influence of this delusion, she dived into the coal-cellar at the most untimely hours, and scarcely ever opened the door of a dark cupboard without clapping it to again, in the belief that she had got him.
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
I'd like to know what the object of "to" is.
And I'd like to know what "clap it to [Y]" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
com/us/definition/american_english/to )
- com/us/definition/american_english/to )
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1 Answers
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"to" is not a preposition here but is actually an adverb, meaning "so as to be closed or nearly closed" (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/to)
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