# clack

> English word · Noun · IPA /klæk/ · frequency rank #46,381

## Definitions
1. An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
2. Anything that causes a clacking noise, such as the clapper of a mill, or a clack valve.
3. Chatter; prattle.
4. The tongue.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **CLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clc)
- **clay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clay)
- **cock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-cock)
- **clan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clan)
- **claw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-claw)
- **clad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clad)
- **clap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clap)
- **clam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clam)
- **cuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-cuck)
- **class** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-class)
- **coach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-coach)
- **claim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-claim)
- **click** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-click)
- **clock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clock)
- **crack** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-crack)
- **Clark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clark)
- **clerk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clerk)
- **clash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clash)
- **Clara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clara)
- **Clare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clack-vs-clare)

## Common misspellings (8)
`calck`, `cclack`, `clacck`, `clackk`, `clakc`, `clcak`, `cllack`, `lcack`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clack