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to cluck

to cluck

27 3.3
To make a series of short low sounds like a hen calling her chicks
  • verb
  • /klʌk/
translation icon : cacarear
  • The boy builds a small shelter for the chicken, who clucks and forages contentedly.

But most people, the majority just want to cluck around at the dirt and Peck and look for bugs and worms.

Examples

  • These chickens ain't clucking like they used to.

  • A few of the council members, however, shook their heads and made clucking sounds with their tongues.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The chickens are not clucking around here.

  • We sat for a while in silence, then Mama clucked to Duke and we went on our way.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • She's clucking like a hen.

  • Sometimes the free-range chickens aren't even allowed outside, and so they cluck-walk packed tight in a dimly lit barn.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The hen began to cluck loudly to call her chicks back to the nest.

  • As she watched the chickens in the yard, she noticed how they would cluck when they were hungry.

  • He imitated the sound of a hen by clucking to make everyone laugh.

Synonyms

to clack
vsto cluck
5 7.2

To make short, sharp clicking sounds

sound lower and softer like short hen calls

Compounds

dumb cluck
  • Offensive
1 9.8

A person who acts in a silly or foolish way

How Loud

to squawk
16 4.7
to cackle
18 6.0
to cluck
27 3.3
to cheep
1 3.9
peep
14 1.0

Surface Forms

cluck infinitive
clucked past
clucked past participle
clucking present participle
clucks third person singular

Etymology

Cluck as a verb comes from the same idea; to 'cluck' is to make a series of short, low 'cluck' noises, and people can 'cluck' their tongues in the same way to show 'disapproval'.