Clacked

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To generate a distinct noise by forcefully bringing two hard objects together To emit a sound that mimics a rapid, rhythmic clicking caused by contact To indicate an action or intent through the quick, sharp sounds produced by impact between surfaces
2. To make a sudden, sharp sound by striking two objects rapidly together
3. To cause a quick, rattling noise through a series of fast impacts between hard surfaces

Etymology: This word is the simple past of "clack", so the history belongs to the verb itself. "Clack" came into Middle English as "clacken", "clakken" or "claken", descending from Old English "clacian", which meant "to slap, clap, clack". The Old English sense leaned toward a blow or slap rather than a noise, and the sound came to the fore as the word developed. Its roots reach back to Proto-Germanic "klakōną", meaning "to clap, chirp", a pairing of a sharp impact with a bird-like call. That double sense survives in the cousins across the North Sea and beyond: Dutch "klakken" means "to clack, crack", Norwegian "klakke" means "to clack, strike, knock", and Icelandic "klaka" once meant "to twitter, chatter, wrangle". The Scots forms "clake" and "claik" show the family's most unexpected range. They could mean "to utter cries", but they could also mean "to bedaub, sully with a sticky substance", as if the same sound of wet smacking had turned into the business of smearing something.

Synonyms: clicked, tapped, snapped, clattered, chattered