clack

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“
The bellow of the town batteries, with the clack -- clack -- clack! of the

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Definitions (28)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. intransitive verb To make an abrupt, sharp sound, as in the collision of two hard surfaces.
  2. intransitive verb To chatter thoughtlessly or at length.
  3. intransitive verb To cackle or cluck, as a hen.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (13)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Ada closed her eyes and listened to the clack-clack of the train moving along the track, the wail of a baby three rows back, and the short grunting snores of a man across the aisle. —  ElleryQueen'sMysteryMagazine,February2003
  • The car struck bike and rider with a metallic clack, and Rueben shouted out at the same moment with a loud "Hah!" —  Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March-April 2005
  • As she thought that, the smooth trait, noises, the rapid clack-clack of the wheels vanished completely. —  SUMMER 1952
  • Granny Bones led the way, marking the beat with the clack-clack-clacking jaws of a tiny skull. —  F ;SF; - vol 087 issue 04-05 - October-November 1994
  • The door came open with a loud clack, and she froze, waiting to see if she'd awakened her roommate. —  Fantasy and Science Fiction - [Vol 111] - Issue 06 - December 2006
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

clacking ·  clank ·  clop ·  clatter ·  clunk ·  whir ·  jangle ·  thunk ·  whoosh ·  thud ·  clangor ·  snick
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English clakken, from Old Norse klaka, of imitative origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. = Scots clake, claik, from Middle English clacken, clakken, claken (not found in Anglo-Saxon, but see below, and cf. clatter and crack) = Middle Dutch klacken, clack, crack, whack, shake, Dutch klakken, clack, crack (later Old French clacquer, claquer, clack, clap, clatter, French claquer, clap in applause: see claque), = Middle Low German klaken, cluck (as a hen), = Icelandic klaka, twitter, chatter (as a bird), wrangle, dispute, = Norwegian klakka, strike, knock; cf. Middle Low German klacken, Low German klakken, throw or daub on, as clay, mud, or other soft mass, = Old High German clecchan, clechan, kleken, crack with a noise, cause to burst, Middle High German klechen, klecken, crack or burst with a noise, also as in G. klecken and klecksen, daub, smear; all being secondary forms of an assumed verb, agreeing nearly with click, q. v.: Anglo-Saxon as if *clecan, preterit *clœc, past participle *clocen, whence also Anglo-Saxon cloccian, English clock and cluck, make the peculiar noise of the hen, = Old High German chlochōn, chlocchōn, cloccōn, strike, knock, whence also ult. English clock: see click, clock, clock, cluck. The words are all more or less imitative; cf. German klack, klacks, interjection, slap!; Irish Gaelic clac, make a din; Greek κλάζειν, scream, bark, clash, rattle. The series clack, click, nasalized clank, clang, clink, with the related clock, cluck, and further clap, clatter, clash, and crack, crash, with their numerous cognates, though of various historical origin, may be regarded as ult. imitative variations of a common root.
  2. from Middle English clakke, clack (of a mill), = Middle Dutch klack, a crack, cracking, = Middle High German klac (klack-), a crack, crash, loud threatening sound, = Swedish kläck, a sudden alarm; cf. Old French clac, a clacket, clacker, clapper, French claque, a claque; from the verb: see clack, v.
 

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/klæk/
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