clunk
Americannoun
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a blow or the sound of a blow
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a dull metallic sound
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a dull or stupid person
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the gurgling sound of a liquid
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the sound of a cork being removed from a bottle
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verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clunksimple
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clunkssimple
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have clunkedperfect
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has clunkedperfect
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am clunkingprogressive
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are clunkingprogressive
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is clunkingprogressive
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have been clunkingperfect progressive
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has been clunkingperfect progressive
Past
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clunkedsimple
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had clunkedperfect
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was clunkingprogressive
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were clunkingprogressive
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had been clunkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clunk
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:
The road was too narrow to swerve, and we heard a nasty clunk.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
At times, I found myself fantasizing about nothing else in the world but the satisfying clunk of a torrent of ice from a self-serve soda fountain.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2023
The one real clunk in the works is the framing device.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2022
I do need to replace the tube one of these years: it sometimes makes a worrying clunk when I sit down.
From The Verge ● Apr. 27, 2022
I give the fuel tank a shake and the motor picks up for a time, but then it sort of fades away, oop-oop-oop, and makes a little clunk, and that’s it, no more outboard motor.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
At no point is Desiree’s identity presented in a way that clunks with “very special episode” messaging or talking points.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
But these clunks are essential to the Busch style, and not just because his plays, with the exception of his Broadway hit “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” have usually been niche-taste, shoestring affairs.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2020
Cilic clunks his forehand into the net and Del Potro takes the first set!
From The Guardian ● Jun. 7, 2018
But, like a 10-year-old Prius, the state’s strategy is showing its age, gathering problems and, as it clunks along, crying out for a tune-up.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 3, 2016
After a minute or so, Harry heard the clunks of Moody’s wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
The scene that best defines the story’s idealism happens long before Dunk gets clunked in the head or skewered by a lance.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
The Bengals clunked to a 4-11-1 finish amid the chaos and confusion of the pandemic.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2022
One floor down, in her music studio, Anderson clunked the black box down.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2021
She put her money in the machine and a can clunked down to the opening.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2018
It clunked to the table and Jason sank back into his chair.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Eight men sliding 16 stones down an ice sheet to the soundtrack of clunking granite, furious sweeping and hollered commands of "hard" and "curl".
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2026
Daniels strode briskly to the stand, not looking at Trump, her shoes clunking on the floor.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024
Foul balls clunking loudly upon landing in the seats.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 24, 2020
This type of wry evangelicalism was about as close to later English Puritanism as Italian eurocommunism would be to the clunking fist of Stalinism.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2018
The shuddering increased, and with a terrible coughing, clunking noise, the car began to slow.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
