# clatter

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈklætɚ/ · frequency rank #44,121

## Definitions
1. To make a rattling sound.
2. To chatter noisily or rapidly.
3. To hit; to smack.

## Etymology
From Middle English clatren (“to make a rattling sound”), from Old English *clatrian (attested as the Late Old English gerund clatrung), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Dutch klateren, kletteren.
The noun, derived from the verb, is first attested in the 14ᵗʰ century.

## Easily confused with
- **cutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-cutter)
- **crater** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-crater)
- **cotter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-cotter)
- **cluster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-cluster)
- **coaster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-coaster)
- **clutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-clutter)
- **critter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-critter)
- **cater** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cater-vs-clatter)
- **Carter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carter-vs-clatter)
- **caster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caster-vs-clatter)
- **canter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canter-vs-clatter)
- **chapter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chapter-vs-clatter)
- **charter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/charter-vs-clatter)
- **chatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chatter-vs-clatter)
- **chatted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chatted-vs-clatter)
- **clapper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clapper-vs-clatter)

## Common misspellings (9)
`caltter`, `cclatter`, `clater`, `clatetr`, `clatterr`, `clattre`, `cllatter`, `cltater`, `lcatter`

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