to clash

Examples

• All

• When the cars clashed, the sound echoed through the street.

• Three times they clashed so that the blood flowed in the valley.

• The two armies clashed when they met, spreading out their right wings.

• As the two armies clashed, both sides sent for reinforcements.

• Twenty years later, the Raisani tribe clashed with another tribe, the Rind, following local elections.

  Academic text (2003)

• More recently, in 1986, the two militaries clashed at Sumdurong Chu near the China-Bhutan-India border.

  Academic text (1997)

• Even before the party's official formation, proto-Hezbollah militants clashed with the police in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

  Academic text (2013)

• Chinese convictions concerning the absolute necessity of violence and continuous struggle clashed bitterly with the Soviet doctrine of "peaceful coexistence."

  Academic text (1997)

• The plates fell and clashed loudly on the floor.

• The two teams clashed in a fierce battle for the championship.

Synonyms

C

to crash

vsto clash

71 2.4

To make a sudden loud noise by hitting or falling

emphasizes noise as the main feature rather than two bodies meeting

C

to collide

vsto clash

64 3.1

Crash into each other while moving

includes impacts when only one party moves rather than both moving

C

to collide with

vsto clash

38 3.7

Hit something or someone while moving, causing a sudden strong crash

also covers hits where only one moves, not only mutual motion

C

to clatter

vsto clash

29 3.9

To make a loud rattling sound by hitting hard things together

describes a single sudden impact rather than repeated rattling sounds

B

to butt against

vsto clash

1 5.9

To hit something with strong force while moving

applies to impacts in many situations, not only those against fixed objects

Compounds

C

clash of the ash

• Jargon

9.5

A hurling match between teams, named for wooden sticks called hurleys striking together

How Forceful

to smash

311 2.1

to clash

13 2.2

to hit

∞ 1.0

to bump

111 1.0

to graze

31 3.7

Surface Forms

Etymology