cluck

¹

[ kluhk ]

verb (used without object)

1. to utter the cry of a hen brooding or calling her chicks.
2. to make a similar sound; express concern, approval, etc., by such a sound.

verb (used with object)

1. to call or utter by clucking.

noun

1. the sound uttered by a hen when brooding, or in calling her chicks.
2. any clucking sound.

cluck

²

[ kluhk ]

noun

, Slang.

1. a dull-witted, stupid person; blockhead; dolt.

cluck

/ klʌk /

noun

1. the low clicking sound made by a hen or any similar sound

verb

1. intr (of a hen) to make a clicking sound
2. tr to call or express (a feeling) by making a similar sound

Word History and Origins

Origin of cluck¹

1475–85; variant of clock ¹ (now dial. and Scot), Middle English clokken, Old English cloccian to cluck; cognate with Dutch klokken

Origin of cluck²

1900–05, Americanism; special use of cluck ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cluck¹

C17: of imitative origin

Example Sentences

With the pandemic raging, an encounter that days earlier might have ended in a friendly apology or a cluck of sympathy quickly turned ugly.

From Time

Secondly, readers should not cluck their satisfaction so blithely over economic sanctions.

From The Daily Beast

The Moo Cluck Moo empire consists of two small outlets with about two-dozen employees.

From The Daily Beast

In September, Moo Cluck Moo raised wages to the unthinkable level of $15 an hour.

From The Daily Beast

By this time next year, Moo Cluck Moo hopes to have about a half-dozen units in the Detroit area.

From The Daily Beast

Moo Cluck Moo, which has been in business for less than a year, has a single restaurant.

From The Daily Beast

Out of the darkening sky rang the twanging call of a night-hawk, and the cluck of a dozing hen sounded from the foliage overhead.

From Project Gutenberg

Ten minutes afterwards we heard the newly wakened hens begin to cluck.

From Project Gutenberg

Mother Bantam would cluck and run back and forth in the coop and call to them, she was so afraid something would happen.

From Project Gutenberg

Animals followed, and the Givers of life said "Speak our names," but the animals could only cluck and croak.

From Project Gutenberg

Pretty soon he heard something going "cluck-cluck" in the bushes, and he knew that it was the mamma hen.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• coo