Cluck

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ÊŒk

Alternative forms

• clutch dialectal
• clock

Origin

From Middle English clocken, clokken, from Old English cloccian ("to cluck, make a noise"), 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 klukken ("to cluck"), German glucken ("to cluck"), Danish klukke ("to cluck"), Swedish klucka ("to cluck"), Icelandic klökkva ("to sob, whine, cluck").

Full definition of cluck

Noun

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

Verb

1. To make such a sound.
2. To call together, or call to follow, as a hen does her chickens.
• ShakespeareShe, poor hen, fond of no second brood,
  Has clucked three to the wars.
3. (British, drug slang) to suffer withdrawal from heroin.