clack

[ klak ]
See synonyms for clack on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
  1. to make a quick, sharp sound, or a succession of such sounds, as by striking or cracking: The loom clacked busily under her expert hands.

  2. to talk rapidly and continually or with sharpness and abruptness; chatter.

  1. to cluck or cackle.

verb (used with object)
  1. to utter by clacking.

  2. to cause to clack: He clacked the cup against the saucer.

noun
  1. a clacking sound.

  2. something that clacks, as a rattle.

  1. rapid, continual talk; chatter.

Origin of clack

1
1200–50; Middle English clacken; imitative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use clack in a sentence

  • There would be clacking tongues in many a Parisian salon, and white faces in some, when news should come of his escape.

  • And these speak an outland speech, clacking in their throats, hissing their s's, and laughing 'Ho!

    Joan of the Sword Hand | S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
  • I halted behind a waste-barrel by the iron fence and forgot the soughing pines and clacking guineas.

    Roof and Meadow | Dallas Lore Sharp
  • This clacking and snivelling is enough to kill a well man, let alone one lying on the edge of his grave.

    Hans Brinker | Mary Mapes Dodge

British Dictionary definitions for clack

clack

/ (klæk) /


verb
  1. to make or cause to make a sound like that of two pieces of wood hitting each other

  2. (intr) to jabber

  1. a less common word for cluck

noun
  1. a short sharp sound

  2. a person or thing that produces this sound

  1. chatter

  2. Also called: clack valve a simple nonreturn valve using either a hinged flap or a ball

Origin of clack

1
C13: probably from Old Norse klaka to twitter, of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012