click
1 Americannoun
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a slight, sharp sound.
At the click of the latch, the dog barked.
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a small device for preventing backward movement of a mechanism, as a detent or pawl.
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Phonetics. any one of a variety of ingressive, usually implosive, speech sounds, phonemic in some languages, produced by suction occlusion and plosive or affricative release.
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any one of a variety of familiar sounds used in calling or urging on horses or other animals, in expressing reprimand or sympathy, or produced in audible kissing.
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Computers. the act of rapidly depressing and releasing a button on a mouse or other input device, usually the left-hand button, as to select an icon.
verb (used without object)
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clicks,
present (3rd person singular)
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clicked,
past participle, past
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clicking
present participle
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to emit or make a slight, sharp sound, or series of such sounds, as by the cocking of a pistol.
The door clicked shut.
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Informal.
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to succeed; make a hit.
If the play clicks, the producer will be rich.
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to fit together; function well together.
They get along in public, but their personalities don't really click.
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to become intelligible.
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Computers. to rapidly depress and release one of the buttons on a mouse or other input device, usually the left-hand button.
Just click on the link to get to the site.
verb (used with object)
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clicks,
present (3rd person singular)
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clicked,
past participle, past
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clicking
present participle
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to cause to click.
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to strike together with a click.
He clicked his heels and saluted.
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Computers.
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to select (a screen object) by rapidly depressing and releasing one of the buttons on a mouse or other input device, usually the left-hand button.
Click “OK” to continue .
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to rapidly depress and release (a button on a mouse or other input device).
Click the trackpad button once.
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noun
noun
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a short light often metallic sound
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the locking member of a ratchet mechanism, such as a pawl or detent
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the movement of such a mechanism between successive locking positions
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phonetics any of various stop consonants, found in Khoisan and as borrowings in southern Bantu languages, that are produced by the suction of air into the mouth
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slang a kilometre
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computing an act of pressing and releasing a button on a mouse
verb
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to make or cause to make a clicking sound
to click one's heels
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(usually foll by on) computing to press and release (a button on a mouse) or to select (a particular function) by pressing and releasing a button on a mouse
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slang (intr) to be a great success
that idea really clicked
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informal (intr) to become suddenly clear
it finally clicked when her name was mentioned
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slang (intr) to go or fit together with ease
they clicked from their first meeting
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clicksimple
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clickssimple
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have clickedperfect
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has clickedperfect
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am clickingprogressive
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are clickingprogressive
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is clickingprogressive
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have been clickingperfect progressive
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has been clickingperfect progressive
Past
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clickedsimple
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had clickedperfect
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was clickingprogressive
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were clickingprogressive
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had been clickingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of click1
First recorded in 1575–85; perhaps imitative, but perhaps from Dutch klikk (noun), klikken (verb)
Origin of click2
First recorded in 1950–55; originally U.S. military slang; further origin unclear
Explanation
A click is a sound like a sharp tap. Your dog might start barking excitedly every evening when he hears the click of your key turning in the lock. And you might click your computer mouse when you are excited about getting to another page on the web. Click is also a verb, meaning to make the sound of a click: "Don't click your tongue at me — I can have ice cream for dinner if I want to!" You can use the word in a figurative way as well, to mean "fall suddenly into place," as when a confusing math problem finally clicks for you. Increasingly, to click is to tap on a computer icon with a mouse: "Click through to my new website!"
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:
“And at some point, it’s going to click for him, and the other team’s going to be in big trouble.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The online retailer has emailed customers apologising for the "unauthorised push notification" containing an external link, adding that they should disregard the message and not click on it.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
As an AI agent, Muse can answer your queries like a chatbot, and also click around websites, use apps and work with files on your computer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Tomato soup was the one that made this click for me.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Belts cinch and click from the corner in response.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
In Arkansas, all it took was a few clicks on the Arkansas secretary of state website, $45 and an American flag to form a bona fide private school with the Arkansas Times.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Sadly, I’ve been making these sorts of predictions long before the invention of clicks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
If their attack clicks, it will be hard to keep them out.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
He lamented “the salaciousness, the shame, the embarrassment, the clicks, the likes” that often come from sharing the photos online.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
You whisper before the gate clicks closed, “Galiheliga. Wado.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
That didn't materialise in the first half, but it clicked in the second.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Clad in a blue suit and squinting at a computer screen in his office, Putin leaned forward and clicked his mouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
OpenAI’s foray into advertising got off to a bumpy start, initially charging some large brands a steep rate of about $60 per 1,000 views whether or not users clicked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The platform recently added a “seems like AI slop” reporting option on posts, which more than 1 million people have already clicked.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026
He clicked the button, and once again the screen showed the publicity photo of Stavros Sinclair.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Home-field advantage in the afternoon always helps Palos Verdes, but more important is the duo of quarterback Ryan Rakowski and receiver Jalen Flowers clicking against an Inglewood team that has some top defensive linemen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
"The team is together for longer, more training sessions, more meetings, more of the same language. You see improvements and automatisms clicking in. We made it a very good camp."
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
You don’t enjoy clicking around a bunch looking for a table, so you instruct an agent to do it for you.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
But the road wasn’t silent—trekking poles clicking against stone, rain snapping against my poncho, the slide of rocks under my shoes and the chorus of “buen camino.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Ella's mind churned, the plan clicking into place like gears in one of her papa's compasses, pointing her in the right direction.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
