cluck¹

[kluhk]

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to utter the cry of a hen brooding or calling her chicks.
to make a similar sound; express concern, approval, etc., by such a sound.

verb (used with object)

to call or utter by clucking.

noun

the sound uttered by a hen when brooding, or in calling her chicks.
any clucking sound.

Origin of cluck¹

1475–85; variant of clock¹ (now dial. and Scot), Middle English clokken, Old English cloccian to cluck; cognate with Dutch klokken

cluck²

[kluhk]

noun Slang.

a dull-witted, stupid person; blockhead; dolt.

Origin of cluck²

1900–05, Americanism; special use of cluck¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cluck

Contemporary Examples

Secondly, readers should not cluck their satisfaction so blithely over economic sanctions.
Les Gelb Puts Russia in Its Place—and Critics in Theirs
Leslie H. Gelb
April 2, 2014
It used to be cute, and adults would shake their heads and cluck their tongues.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories
Harry Siegel
February 27, 2013

Historical Examples

Whenever they get hungry, the mamma hen will come to the door of the house and cluck.
Harper's Young People, July 27, 1880
Various
While feeding it utters a low-sounding cluck, cluck, at short intervals.
The Western World
W.H.G. Kingston
I know all the birds say when they twitter and chirp, caw and coo, gobble and cluck.
Europa's Fairy Book
Joseph Jacobs
She can cluck, cluck them close up to her, and often she catches them.
Hoodie
Mary Louisa Stewart Molesworth
There they sit for a short time, when their leader gives a loud “cluck.”
With Axe and Rifle
W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for cluck

cluck

noun

the low clicking sound made by a hen or any similar sound

verb

(intr) (of a hen) to make a clicking sound
(tr) to call or express (a feeling) by making a similar sound

Word Origin

C17: 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

Word Origin and History for cluck

v.

Old English cloccian originally echoic. Cf. Turkish culuk, one of the words for "turkey;" Greek klozein, Latin glocire, German glucken. Related: Clucked; clucking.

n.

1703, "sound made by a hen," from cluck (v.). Slang meaning "stupid person" (turkeys are famously foolish) is from 1927.

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cluck2

Origin of cluck2

Examples from the Web for cluck

Contemporary Examples

Secondly, readers should not cluck their satisfaction so blithely over economic sanctions.

It used to be cute, and adults would shake their heads and cluck their tongues.

Historical Examples

Whenever they get hungry, the mamma hen will come to the door of the house and cluck.

While feeding it utters a low-sounding cluck, cluck, at short intervals.

I know all the birds say when they twitter and chirp, caw and coo, gobble and cluck.

She can cluck, cluck them close up to her, and often she catches them.

There they sit for a short time, when their leader gives a loud “cluck.”