clack
Americanverb (used without object)
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clacks,
present (3rd person singular)
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clacked,
past participle, past
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clacking
present participle
-
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.
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to talk rapidly and continually or with sharpness and abruptness; chatter.
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to cluck or cackle.
verb (used with object)
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clacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clacked,
past participle, past
-
clacking
present participle
-
to utter by clacking.
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to cause to clack.
He clacked the cup against the saucer.
noun
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clacks
plural
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a clacking sound.
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something that clacks, as a rattle.
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rapid, continual talk; chatter.
verb
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to make or cause to make a sound like that of two pieces of wood hitting each other
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(intr) to jabber
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a less common word for cluck
noun
-
a short sharp sound
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a person or thing that produces this sound
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chatter
-
Also called: clack valve. a simple nonreturn valve using either a hinged flap or a ball
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clacksimple
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clackssimple
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have clackedperfect
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has clackedperfect
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am clackingprogressive
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are clackingprogressive
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is clackingprogressive
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have been clackingperfect progressive
-
has been clackingperfect progressive
Past
-
clackedsimple
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had clackedperfect
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was clackingprogressive
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were clackingprogressive
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had been clackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clack
1200–50; Middle English clacken; imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There is the intermittent purr of generators, dogs barking, and, from time to time, the dry clack of domino tiles echoing in the street.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Imagine “the incessant clack of cowboy boots against the cobblestones” that could have been, he thinks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
I will read each new directive from my political leadership and clack away at my keyboard to implement it as best as I can.
From Slate ● Feb. 7, 2025
She tries heels on rocks, boots in sand, swatting a boxer’s glove and putting a necklace in her mouth to get the clack of a horse’s bit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2023
Heels clack toward us, then someone says, “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, I’m April Ofrah with Just Us for Justice.”
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
TikTok serves up step-by-step mise en place with soft jazz and fingernail clacks; mukbang creators rake in millions by eating crab legs in front of a ring light.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2025
It is a kitchen of clicks and clacks, of ASMR, of packets ripped open and weekly restock hauls.
From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2025
To keep the audience on its toes, some scene changes are punctuated by blinding lights and obnoxiously loud flashbulb clacks.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2024
She visits the market, for instance; he clacks at a typewriter.
From Washington Post ● May 5, 2022
The German haunts her: in nightmares, he’s a spider crab three meters high; he clacks his claws and whispers One simple question into her ear.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
When friends clacked at keyboards, examined patients, or taught middle schoolers math, I bicycled Arthur's froggy legs because humans aren't born knowing how to pass gas.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2022
Antlers clacked on antlers, cartilage snapped, and the breath of three thousand animals rose over the fence.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 18, 2019
Cameras clacked and commotion swirled as they held up their hands.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2019
There were no microphones, but in the quiet night air Abby’s spoons clacked with extra clarity.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 29, 2018
It had a sleek head feathered in gray and talons that clacked on the wooden dresser as it sidled back and forth along the edge, as if to get a better look at me.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
There's a reassuring clacking as the individual letters hit the blank white page in quick, noisy succession:
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
To be completely fair, if Perkins sought out to make a film that was brutal for brutality’s sake, I might not even be sitting here, clacking away on my keyboard.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2025
Dave and Jody Madore walked up Lincoln Street with their 8-year-old daughter, Cadence, her white heels clacking against the asphalt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
As the clacking electronic beats swept in and Lewis’ airy backing vocals signaled the crew was ready for liftoff, the crowd erupted in response.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 7, 2023
Their scabby snouts were twitching triumphantly, and their teeth were clacking as close to my thumbs as they could get.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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