clunk

[ kluhngk ]
See synonyms for: clunkclunking on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to hit hard, especially on the head.

noun
  1. a hard hit, especially on the head.

  2. Informal. a stupid person; clunkhead.

Origin of clunk

1
1790–1800; imitative; cf. clink1, clank

Words Nearby clunk

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

How to use clunk in a sentence

  • I feed it coins and watch the spring coil back,the clunk of a vacuum-packed, foil-wrappeddream dropping into the tray.

    Five poems about the mind | Cynthia Miller, Paula Bohince, Anthony Anaxagorou, Tishani Doshi, Zeina Hashem Beck | August 25, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
  • Embellishments were large and cumbersome—so much so that the dresses seemed to clink and clunk as the models walked the runway.

    Milan’s Day-Glo Exuberance | Robin Givhan | September 26, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • As to the word clunk, it is in use throughout Cornwall in the sense of "to swallow," and is undoubtedly Celtic.

  • It had in it the jingle of saber chains, the creak of sweaty saddle-girths, the nimble clunk of hurrying hoofs.

    Back Home | Irvin S. Cobb
  • But three minutes later he had dropped down to earth with a heavy clunk.

    Dead Giveaway | Gordon Randall Garrett
  • And immediately afterward the clungk, clunk—clungk, clunk of mighty hoofs coming down the passage toward us.

    Carnacki, The Ghost Finder | William Hope Hodgson
  • And suddenly the clungk, clunk—clungk, clunk recommenced and passed onward down the passage.

    Carnacki, The Ghost Finder | William Hope Hodgson

British Dictionary definitions for clunk

clunk

/ (klʌŋk) /


noun
  1. a blow or the sound of a blow

  2. a dull metallic sound

  1. a dull or stupid person

  2. mainly Scot

    • the gurgling sound of a liquid

    • the sound of a cork being removed from a bottle

verb
  1. to make or cause to make such a sound

Origin of clunk

1
C19: 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