English

Alternative forms

• applausometer

Noun

applauseometer ‎(plural not attested)

1. (informal, US) A device of dubious accuracy used to measure the volume of an audience’s applause.
   • 1989, Nov.–Dec., The Alcalde, volume 78, № 2, page 24

     Its four-color animation board has message capabilities, angled lenses for easy daytime viewing, and an applauseometer, which measures the crowd’s Longhorn-cheering levels.

   • 2000: Marshal Scott Younger, The Great Kidsboro Takeover, page 93 (Review and Herald Publishing Association; ISBN 0828014272, 9780828014274)

     Again, there was scattered applause. I looked into the crowd at Nelson. He told me he was bringing a new invention — an applauseometer — to the debate.

   • 2001: Stanley Marcus, Quest for the Best, page 27 (University of North Texas Press; ISBN 1574411373, 9781574411379)

     Is the best measurable? If so, by what kind of instrumentation? Certainly not by an “applauseometer,” as used to record the volume of applause on the “Major Bowes Amateur Night Talent” shows during the heyday of radio. I know of no universal empirical devices, but I do believe that the best is discernible to the observant eye.

Synonyms

• clapometer