clank
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to make such a sound.
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to move with such sounds.
The old jalopy clanked up the hill.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to make a sharp sound, as metal in collision.
He clanked the shovel against the pail.
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to place, put, set, etc., with a clank.
to clank the cell door shut.
noun
verb
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to make or cause to make such a sound
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(intr) to move or operate making such a sound
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have clankedperfect
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has clankedperfect 3rd person singular
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am clankingprogressive 1st person singular
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is clankingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are clankingprogressive
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have been clankingperfect progressive
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has been clankingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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clankssingular 3rd person
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clankingparticiple
Past
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had clankedperfect
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were clankingprogressive plural
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had been clankingperfect progressive
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clankedparticiple
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was clankingprogressive singular
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clankedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of clank
First recorded in 1605–15, clank is from the Dutch word klank sound
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.
The prison through which he is escorted is a maze of many gates, rusted metal barriers to movement that echo, with every thud and clank, the stymied processes of Soviet justice.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
However, the clank of granite went against them in the seventh, an unfortunate bounce leaving Canada the chance of three, which they gladly took.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
It’s already quite hot inside my shoebox apartment as the radiators clank away, drowning out my upstairs neighbor’s heavy footsteps with their cacophonous symphony.
From Salon • Feb. 7, 2026
USC then drove to the 10-yard line with seconds left in the half, only for kicker Ryon Sayeri to clank a 27-yard field-goal attempt off the goalpost.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2025
My mom puts the glass down on the table, a single clank to spell out her annoyance, in case I couldn’t see it from the look she gives me now.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
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.
