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:
She never even got to clunk and thud her way through any farmhouses or laboratories like a bewigged bull in a china shop.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
"I was hanging there for a second then I heard a click or a clunk and then I woke up on the floor," he said.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2024
“Then, we heard a clunk, and we all collectively knew one had dropped off. So we continued to do that, until the weights were all out.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2023
“When we heard our first clunk, that was such a relief,” Price recalled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
The shuttle slips off the dock onto the launch railings with a clunk.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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
The fan she does have slowly clunks as it starts, eventually whirring into action.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2024
To fix it, Mr. Mace said, the Met installed shims to restrict the freedom of movement within the two towers, eliminating the clunks during weight shifts.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2018
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
There was a scraping as everyone drew their cauldrons toward them and some loud clunks as people began adding weights to their scales, but nobody spoke.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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
And yet the balls sailed high over the bar and clunked against the posts.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
Daniels strode briskly to the stand, not looking at Trump, her shoes clunking on the floor.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024
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
Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise behind him.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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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.
