clack

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English clacken, clakken, claken, from Old English *clacian (“to slap, clap, clack”), from Proto-Germanic *klakōną (“to clap, chirp”). Cognate with Scots clake, claik (“to utter cries", also "to bedaub, sully with a sticky substance”), Dutch klakken (“to clack, crack”), Low German klakken (“to slap on, daub”), Norwegian klakke (“to clack, strike, knock”), Icelandic klaka (“to twitter, chatter, wrangle, dispute”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /klæk/ Rhymes: -æk === Noun === clack (plural clacks) An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk. Anything that causes a clacking noise, such as the clapper of a mill, or a clack valve. Chatter; prattle. (colloquial) The tongue. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === clack (third-person singular simple present clacks, present participle clacking, simple past and past participle clacked) (intransitive) To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click. (transitive) To cause 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. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “clack”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.