cluck

/klʌk/

//klʌk// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cluck" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cluck” is uncommon English (frequency #64,996 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,996
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cluck · cluck · English

cluck · rank #64,996 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,996
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Clowney

Nearest frequency peer: Clowney (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “cluck”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “cluck” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cluck
PropertyValue
Headwordcluck
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/klʌk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#64,996
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cluck” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cluckfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Clowney” (#64,995), “Cluj” (#64,997), “clod” (#64,994). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cluck” is #64,996. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cluck is uncommon English at frequency #64,996 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /klʌk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

cluck doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clokken, clocken, from Old English cloccian (“to cluck, make a noise”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn, from Proto-Germanic *klukkwōną (“to make a sound, cluck”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Scots clok, clock (“to cluck”), Dutc… The correct English form is cluck, spelled C-L-U-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks.
  2. 2
    Any sound similar to this.
  3. 3
    A kind of tongue click used to urge on a horse.
  4. 4
    A setting hen.

Etymology

From Middle English clokken, clocken, from Old English cloccian (“to cluck, make a noise”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn, from Proto-Germanic *klukkwōną (“to make a sound, cluck”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Scots clok, clock (“to cluck”), Dutch klokken (“to cluck”), Low German klucken (“to cluck”), German glucken (“to cluck”), Danish klukke (“to cluck”), Swedish klucka (“to cluck”), Icelandic klökkva (“to sob, whine, cluck”).

This word in other languages

cloqueo(Español)gloussement(Français)Gackern(Deutsch)cacarejo(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cluck"?
"cluck" is spelled C-L-U-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /klʌk/.
What does "cluck" mean?
As a noun, "cluck" means: The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks.
How do you pronounce "cluck"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cluck" is /klʌk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cluck"?
From Middle English clokken, clocken, from Old English cloccian (“to cluck, make a noise”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn, from Proto-Germanic *klukkwōną (“to make a sound, cluck”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Scots clok, clock (“to clu... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cluck", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chana#64,976Crean#65,022Biles#64,929dumpy#65,074

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list