clunk
Americannoun
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a blow or the sound of a blow
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a dull metallic sound
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a dull or stupid person
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the gurgling sound of a liquid
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the sound of a cork being removed from a bottle
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verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clunksimple
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clunkssimple
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have clunkedperfect
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has clunkedperfect
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am clunkingprogressive
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are clunkingprogressive
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is clunkingprogressive
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have been clunkingperfect progressive
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has been clunkingperfect progressive
Past
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clunkedsimple
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had clunkedperfect
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was clunkingprogressive
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were clunkingprogressive
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had been clunkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clunk
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:
Riders and drivers took increasingly elaborate swerves to avoid the wince-inducing jolts of a full-on pothole clunk.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
At times, I found myself fantasizing about nothing else in the world but the satisfying clunk of a torrent of ice from a self-serve soda fountain.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2023
I do need to replace the tube one of these years: it sometimes makes a worrying clunk when I sit down.
From The Verge ● Apr. 27, 2022
At the other end, Jaquez missed a runner, clunk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2022
There was a clunk, a splash, and a gasp from within the stall and he saw Her- mione’s eye peering through the keyhole.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
At no point is Desiree’s identity presented in a way that clunks with “very special episode” messaging or talking points.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
In the back room of the threadbare offices of the Irish soccer team Bohemians, the printer clunks and chugs and whirs incessantly, spitting out a cascade of shipping labels.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2024
The fan she does have slowly clunks as it starts, eventually whirring into action.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2024
But, like a 10-year-old Prius, the state’s strategy is showing its age, gathering problems and, as it clunks along, crying out for a tune-up.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 3, 2016
This time it shifts a little, but then the rope slips through my hands and the trap clunks back on the bottom.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
After the robots noisily clunked down the stairs, the strangeness of the encounter began to fade.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The scene that best defines the story’s idealism happens long before Dunk gets clunked in the head or skewered by a lance.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
The Bengals clunked to a 4-11-1 finish amid the chaos and confusion of the pandemic.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2022
One floor down, in her music studio, Anderson clunked the black box down.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2021
I said “Yessir” and “No, sir” but I kept my eyes on my inky arm and clunked the heels of those majorette boots against the legs of my chair.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Carroll said: “He’s really excited to be back. He was missed enormously and was good to see him out there clunking around with our guys and getting back into the rhythm of it.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
He described the film as a "structurally calamitous reboot", adding: "Mulan is clunking, illogical and anaesthetised by political correctness."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2020
Foul balls clunking loudly upon landing in the seats.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 24, 2020
This type of wry evangelicalism was about as close to later English Puritanism as Italian eurocommunism would be to the clunking fist of Stalinism.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2018
We were out until around five thirty, when my mother came clunking through the door.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
