clack

IPA/klæk/
KK[klˈæk]IPA/klæk/

clack — noun

  • clacksingular
  • clacksplural

1. a sudden, brief, hard-sounding noise produced when two solid items strike one an

1.nounC2
Definition

a sudden, brief, hard-sounding noise produced when two solid items strike one another, like wooden blocks or heels on a tile floor

Example

Felipe heard the loud clack of billiard balls from the back room of the bar.

noun phrase: clack of [colliding objects]

Every morning, Eleni woke to the clack of her neighbour's heels on the marble stairs.

the clack of [shoes/heels] on [hard surface]

Common collocations
  • the clack of billiard balls
  • a steady clack
  • with a clack
Synonyms
  • click

    lighter and quicker; mouse buttons and pen tops 'click', not 'clack'

  • clatter

    longer, messier, and louder; many objects falling or bumping together

  • clink

    thinner and more metallic; usually glass or coins

Grammar Patterns

a clack of [noun]

with a clack

Usage Note

Subject is usually the sound itself or the activity; common in 'the clack of [plural objects/heels/needles]' patterns. Frequently in literary or descriptive prose rather than everyday speech.

Common Mistakes

A clack came from the heavy door closing slowly.
A bang came from the heavy door closing slowly.
a clack is short and sharp; slow, deep sounds are 'bang', 'thud', or 'creak'.

clack — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four describe brief, sharp sounds from hard objects hitting one another, but each fits a different texture of impact. 'Click' is the softest and highest — mouse buttons, light switches, a fingernail on a phone screen. 'Clack' sits one step deeper and harder: wooden sandals on tile, knitting needles, billiard balls. 'Clink' is thin and metallic, so glasses raised in a toast clink, and coins in a jar clink, but they do not clack. 'Clatter' is the longest and messiest — a fork dropped into a sink, or a tray of cutlery falling. A rule of thumb: if one short noise, choose click (soft) or clack (harder); if many noises in a quick mess, clatter; if metal-on-glass-on-metal, clink.

clack ↗click ↗clatter ↗clink ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • the clack of [hard objects]
  • clack together

Prepositions

Etymology

Old NorseMiddle EnglishEnglish

An imitative word — the sound itself shaped the spelling. English 'clack' goes back to Middle English 'clacken', which was modelled on the same kind of sound-mimicking root that gave Old Norse 'klaka' (to chatter, of birds). Closely related to 'click', 'clatter', and 'cluck', all formed the same way: an initial 'cl-' that English has long used for short, hard, percussive noises.