clatter

American  

[klat-er] / ˈklæt ər /

verb (used without object)

1. to make a loud, rattling sound, as that produced by hard objects striking rapidly one against the other.

   The shutters clattered in the wind.

2. to move rapidly with such a sound.

   The iron-wheeled cart clattered down the street.

3. to talk fast and noisily; chatter.

   They clattered on and on about their children.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause to clatter.

   clattering the pots and pans in the sink.

noun

1. a rattling noise or series of rattling noises.

   The stagecoach made a terrible clatter going over the wooden bridge.

2. noisy disturbance; din; racket.

3. noisy talk; din of voices.

   They had to shout over the clatter at the cocktail party.

4. idle talk; gossip.

clatter British  

/ ˈklætə /

verb

1. to make or cause to make a rattling noise, esp as a result of movement

2. (intr) to chatter

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noun

1. a rattling sound or noise

2. a noisy commotion, such as one caused by loud chatter

Other Word Forms

• clatterer
  noun
• clatteringly
  adverb
• clattery
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of clatter

before 1050; Middle English clateren, Old English clatr- (in clatrunge ); cognate with Dutch klateren to rattle; see -er ⁶

Explanation

A clatter is a clacking or rattling sound, like the clatter of horse hooves on pavement or the clatter of toys being thrown down a wooden staircase by an angry child. Clatter is also a verb, meaning "to make a continuous rattling or clanking sound." You might clatter down the school hallway in your clogs, or watch your dogs clatter across a frozen pond, their toenails clicking on the ice. Clatter comes from the Old English onomatopoeic clatrung, "a clattering," or simply "noise."

Example Sentences

The shuffling clatter of domino-shaped ceramic tiles drowned out the women’s laughter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Aromatics are where things begin: ginger, garlic, onions and their cousins; the soft clatter of mirepoix or soffritto; a bloom of spices warming in fat.

From Salon • Feb. 8, 2026

Dishes clatter, steam bursts from large cooking pots and music is seeping through the bustling chatter of Russian pensioners, hunched over bowls of free meals in a Saint Petersburg soup kitchen.

From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026

It is the clatter of chair-on-chair tackles that hits you as you walk into the sports hall in Lisburn.

From BBC • Oct. 10, 2025

They dropped their spades in a clatter, grabbed the root, and hurried home.

From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin

Related Words

• clang
• hurtle