clack

Meanings

Noun

• 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.
• The tongue.

Verb

• To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
• To cause to make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
• To chatter or babble; to utter rapidly without consideration.
• To cut the sheep's mark off (wool), to make the wool weigh less and thus yield less duty.

Origin

• 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, Dutch klakken ("to clack, crack"), Low German klakken ("to slap on, daub"), Norwegian klakke, Icelandic klaka ("to twitter, chatter, wrangle, dispute").