clack
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klakIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklæk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
To chatter or babble; to utter rapidly without consideration.
uk
To cut the sheep's mark off (wool), to make the wool weigh less and thus yield less duty.
Dated form of cluck.
noun
Anything that causes a clacking noise, such as the clapper of a mill, or a clack valve.
A sharp abrupt noise as if two objects hit together; may be repeated
An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
Chatter; prattle.
colloquial
The tongue.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
Used this way, clack is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Sudden and forceful
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A simple valve with a hinge on one side.
A succession of clicks.
A fast and rhythmic click-clack.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.