clanger

Noun

clanger (plural clangers)

1. (also, figuratively) Something that clangs; an alarm bell.
   • The front and patio doors are bugged. When you open one a contact breaks and off goes the clanger.1972, The Saturday review, Volume 55, Part 2, page 21
   • The conversation was hard-going; we didn't click at all, but then he dropped the clanger: Beazley has done a lunch with Maxine McKew and ‘It will be read as he wants to come back. Our people want to go big with it.’2005, Mark Latham, The Latham Diaries, unnumbered page
2. The clapper of a bell, anything that strikes a bell or other metal object to make a ringing sound.
   • I dismounted and walked over to Pelleas. “You may remember me, my Lord,” I said. “You once made me a knife from a bell clanger. I am Morgan, Queen of Galloway.”1994, Courtway Jones, Witch of the North, page 254
   • The clanger was made out of the same material, and attached to a chain at one end. The idea was to stick the clanger in the opening of the triangle and start circulating, whacking the triangle on all three sides as fast as you could.1998, Dick Hyson, The Calling, page 100
3. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal, often in the phrase drop a clanger) A very noticeable mistake; an attention-getting faux pas.
   • In his speech, the best man got the bride's name wrong. What a clanger!
   • He dropped a real clanger when he criticized the paraplegic for not standing.

   Synonyms:

   blooper, blunder, boo-boo, faux pas, gaffe, pratfall

4. (Australia, Australian rules football) A mistake made by a player; counted in the game statistics in the category "errors including frees against".
   • Geelong could not get their running game going and lapsed into clanger after clanger.2006, Jim Main, Rohan Connolly, More Than a Century of AFL Grand Finals, page 202
5. An early hi-hat consisting of cymbals mounted on the rim of a bass drum and struck with an arm on the drum's pedal.
6. (Australia) A cicada, Psaltoda claripennis, of New South Wales and Queensland, having an upper body of green and brown and clear wings with green veins.