clack
Americanverb (used without object)
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clacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clacked,
past participle, past
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
(intr) to jabber
-
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
-
has clackedperfect
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am clackingprogressive
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are clackingprogressive
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is clackingprogressive
-
have been clackingperfect progressive
-
has been clackingperfect progressive
Past
-
clackedsimple
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had clackedperfect
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was clackingprogressive
-
were clackingprogressive
-
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
It's 18 January 1976 and the clack of the turnstiles at Kilcohan Park is non-stop as more than 6,000 people cram their way into the home ground of Irish club Waterford FC.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2023
The click and clack of metal sliding on metal echoes.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
Mottley remembers hearing the hard clicks and clacks of his typing late into the night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2022
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
They dipped their shoe polish beaks into the water and clacked and honked.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2022
Below, amid leafy plants and colorful lighting, employees at tech start-ups clacked away on MacBooks and sketched on whiteboards.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2022
Antlers clacked on antlers, cartilage snapped, and the breath of three thousand animals rose over the fence.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 18, 2019
The badger clacked her claws in front of her snout, thinking intently.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
There's a reassuring clacking as the individual letters hit the blank white page in quick, noisy succession:
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
Then they have a bunch of specific calls they give when interacting with others to keep the interaction going longer, such as laughing during play, or teeth clacking during grooming,” Crockford said.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
You can credit me later with tickets, and so, yes, it is being held together with tape because I was clacking it too much in Vegas and Seattle.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025
All the while, SBF sat totally still, occasionally clacking away at the laptop in front of him.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2023
He felt goose pimples clacking all over him as he gazed down despondently at the grim secret Snowden had spilled all over the messy floor.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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