cluck

[ kluhk ]

/ klʌk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cluck ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to utter the cry of a hen brooding or calling her chicks.

to make a similar sound; express concern, approval, etc., by such a sound.

verb (used with object)

to call or utter by clucking.

noun

the sound uttered by a hen when brooding, or in calling her chicks.

any clucking sound.

Nearby words

clubland, clubman, clubroom, clubroot, clubwoman, cluck, clucky, clue, clue in, clued-up, clueless

Origin of cluck

1475–85; variant of clock¹ (now dial. and Scot), Middle English clokken, Old English cloccian to cluck; cognate with Dutch klokken

Definition for cluck (2 of 2)

cluck

[ kluhk ]

/ klʌk /

noun Slang.

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

Origin of cluck

1900–05, Americanism; special use of cluck¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cluck

Secondly, readers should not cluck their satisfaction so blithely over economic sanctions.
Les Gelb Puts Russia in Its Place—and Critics in Theirs|Leslie H. Gelb|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It used to be cute, and adults would shake their heads and cluck their tongues.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories|Harry Siegel|February 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"Cluck, put, put," there stands a young gobbler within twenty paces to the left: he has approached from the rear.
The Wild Turkey and Its Hunting|Edward A. McIlhenny
What the meaning may be of this cluck of the tongue, which has been observed with various people, I cannot imagine.
The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals|Charles Darwin

He couldn't afford to have this chance smashed by a cluck like Garret.
A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.|Rutherford G. Montgomery
It was a short-backed hen: she winked with one eye, crying, "Cluck, cluck!"
Twenty-Four Unusual Stories for Boys and Girls|Anna Cogswell Tyler
Even the street boys sang 'zizizi' and 'cluck, cluck, cluck,' and the emperor sang it too.
Stories from Hans Andersen|Hans Christian Andersen

British Dictionary definitions for cluck

cluck

/ (klʌk) /

noun

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

verb

(intr) (of a hen) to make a clicking sound

(tr) to call or express (a feeling) by making a similar sound

Word Origin for cluck

C17: of imitative origin

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