clickety-clack

American  

[klik-i-tee-klak] / ˈklɪk ɪ tiˈklæk /

noun

1. a rhythmic, swiftly paced succession of alternating clicks and clacks, as the sound produced by the wheels of a train moving over tracks.

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Etymology

Origin of clickety-clack

First recorded in 1875–80; metrical compound from click ¹, clack

Example Sentences

For me, I was hooked by the stilted-yet-charming robotic performances from their once ubiquitous animatronic bands, in which tunes were delivered amid the clickety-clack of machinery.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 28, 2025

And produce the satisfying clickety-clack of real writing.

From Washington Post • Nov. 5, 2015

Our narrator, a Frenchman, sits with his family in the pews of Notre Dame mourning his grandfather when the clickety-clack of high heels disturbs the still air.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2012

How long would it be before these kids retreated into the dense clickety-clack äppärät world of their absorbed mothers and missing fathers?

From The New Yorker • Jun. 7, 2010

Dozens of mechanized needles pumping up and down sounded a continuous clickety-clack, clickety-clack over the rumble of foot treadles and the whir of spinning spools of thread.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell