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cleck

1 British  
/ klɛk /

verb

  1. (of birds) to hatch

  2. to lay or hatch (a plot or scheme)

"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
cleck 2 British  
/ klɛk /

verb

  1. to gossip (about); tell (on)

"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

noun

  1. (often plural) a piece of gossip

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of cleck1

C15: from Old Norse klekja

Origin of cleck2

from Welsh, from clecan to gossip, and clec gossip

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.

O. N. klekking, chicken, but probably Sco. formation from cleck, to hatch, q.v.

From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by Flom, George Tobias

Some thought it was afflicted with a tympathy, and others, that it was the natural way for such-like ducks to cleck their young.

From The Annals of the Parish; or, the chronicle of Dalmailing during the ministry of the Rev. Micah Balwhidder by Galt, John

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.