clank
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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clanks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clanked,
past participle, past
-
clanking
present participle
-
to make such a sound.
-
to move with such sounds.
The old jalopy clanked up the hill.
verb (used with object)
-
clanks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clanked,
past participle, past
-
clanking
present participle
-
to cause to make a sharp sound, as metal in collision.
He clanked the shovel against the pail.
-
to place, put, set, etc., with a clank.
to clank the cell door shut.
noun
verb
-
to make or cause to make such a sound
-
(intr) to move or operate making such a sound
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clanksimple
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clankssimple
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have clankedperfect
-
has clankedperfect
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am clankingprogressive
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are clankingprogressive
-
is clankingprogressive
-
have been clankingperfect progressive
-
has been clankingperfect progressive
Past
-
clankedsimple
-
had clankedperfect
-
was clankingprogressive
-
were clankingprogressive
-
had been clankingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
As the sun sank, neighbors began banging spoons on metal pots from inside their homes, the subtle but unmistakable clank of government protests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 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
The clank of this supposed breakthrough idea is as inelegant as the meandering storytelling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
"It feels like a prison," he says as the gates clank shut behind him.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025
There was the clank of cooking, and the mineral smell of coal smoke.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Mr. Rasmussen makes Douglass’s conversion vivid and persuasive; Mr. Rebeiro exposes its jurisprudential machinery with impressive precision, even when that machinery clanks a little.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
The barge also retains fixtures from Panto’s days: Patinated rigging blocks hang from the ceiling; a century-old bell clanks when the barge jerks.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
Maybe until the final seconds of the season opener when he clanks one?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2022
Saturday’s game was filled with a lot more clanks than swishes for Seattle U. But as basketball coaches often say, offense can come and go.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2022
She clanks pots and then turns on the faucet.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
“If they clanked, which a lot of them did.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Azurá Stevens and Cameron Brink were strong in the key early, but the Sparks clanked jumpers, dribbled into traffic and watched offensive possessions die on the rim in addition to committing eight first-quarter turnovers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
Mittelstadt’s goal, batted out of the air, clanked off the front of the mask of Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, one of the league’s best goalies, off Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon and into the net.
From Seattle Times ● May 2, 2024
He smiled as another shell clanked into the dumpster.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2023
When he crashed against it, the gate shuddered and the snake clanked and slithered and held.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
As the din of clanking metal dims, the smell of grease and exhaust lingers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
We watched him operate a vintage letterpress, the mechanisms whirring and clanking like a steam engine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
The sound of clanking leg shackles could be heard moments before Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro walked into the door of a New York City courtroom for the first time.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026
The strength machines use electric motors to create resistance instead of physical weights, so there’s no clanking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
The whole assembled group followed as Werfel carefully picked his way among the giant curls and shards of broken glass with Regibald, dressed in full armor, clanking behind him.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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.
