cleck
1 Britishverb
-
(of birds) to hatch
-
to lay or hatch (a plot or scheme)
verb
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Other Word Forms
- clecky adjective
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.
Cleck, klek, v.t. to hatch.—n.
From Project Gutenberg
She was cocksure the two small arms only just covered it, because unless one cheated and pushed her elbow over the edge, your middle fingers wouldn't jam and go cleck—like this....
From Project Gutenberg
O. N. klekking, chicken, but probably Sco. formation from cleck, to hatch, q.v.
From Project Gutenberg
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 Project Gutenberg
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.
