clack

[klak]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clack ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

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.

to talk rapidly and continually or with sharpness and abruptness; chatter.

to cluck or cackle.

verb (used with object)

to utter by clacking.

to cause to clack: He clacked the cup against the saucer.

noun

a clacking sound.

something that clacks, as a rattle.

rapid, continual talk; chatter.

Origin of clack

1200–50; Middle English clacken; imitative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for clack

prate, cackle, babble, cluck, rattle, gossip, yak, jaw, prattle, blab, chatter

Examples from the Web for clack

Contemporary Examples of clack

I need to get a head shot so he won't have a chance to clack himself off [blow himself up].
Meet the Man Who Killed Bin Laden
David Frum
February 11, 2013
A look at some of the craziest, funniest, and most bizarre moments with Click and Clack.
‘Car Talk’ Hosts to Retire: Best Moments With NPR’s Laughing Mechanics
Caitlin Dickson
June 9, 2012
“A Kinder, Gentler IRS” Click and Clack were all over the place in the April 11, 1998, episode of Car Talk.
‘Car Talk’ Hosts to Retire: Best Moments With NPR’s Laughing Mechanics
Caitlin Dickson
June 9, 2012

Historical Examples of clack

The bellow of the town batteries, with the clack—clack—clack!
The Dop Doctor
Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
He hurried off, and in a moment the clack of bagatelle began again.
The Island Pharisees
John Galsworthy
The div-i-dend on Steelwhirrwhirrclack, clack, clackone per cent.
Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 6, July 1905
Various
What a buzz and clack and chatter there was in the room to be sure!
The Christmas Books
William Makepeace Thackeray
The quick clack, clack, clatter when springing up in fear of capture.
Woodland Tales
Ernest Seton-Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for clack

clack

verb

to make or cause to make a sound like that of two pieces of wood hitting each other

(intr) to jabber

a less common word for cluck

noun

a short sharp sound

a person or thing that produces this sound

chatter

Also called: clack valve a simple nonreturn valve using either a hinged flap or a ball

Word Origin for clack

C13: probably from Old Norse klaka to twitter, 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 clack

mid-13c., not in Old English, from Old Norse klaka "to chatter," of echoic origin; cf. Dutch klakken "to clack, crack," Old High German kleken, French claquer "to clap, crack (see claque). Related: Clacked; clacking.

mid-15c., from clack (v.).