Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use clank in a sentence

15 example sentences · noun, verb

Clank means a loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal. Example: “The chains clanked.”

Examples of clank by meaning

verbTo make a clanking sound.

  • The chains clanked.
  • Slung from his shoulders clanks a two-handed sword, the pommel a huge star-ruby carven in the image of a heart, for the heart is his sign and symbol.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 7
  • Far less straightforward was what happened at about 0130 on Friday June 2 1944, as a long goods train was chuffing and clanking its unhurried way across the darkened landscape towards Soham, from Ely.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42

verbTo cause to sound with a clank.

  • The prisoners clank their chains.

More sentences with clank

  • The pipes clanked a little while Frankie B talked more about his trip.2013, James Quackenbush, A Speckled Axe, page 88. From the entry hoosh
  • The film's most persistent (and pernicious) image is of a train, clanking and rambling down a track.1986 February 1, Robin Lippincott, “Shoah (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 15. From the entry incantatory
  • I want to be a clanker—with a sword at my side and spurs on my boots—clank, clank!1950 [1899], Maxim Gorky, translated by Margaret Wettlin, Foma Gordeyev, Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, page 54. From the entry clanker
  • They sat down fast, clanking instrument cases.2010, Adam Levin, “Signify”, in The Instructions, San Francisco, Calif.: McSweeney’s Rectangulars, →ISBN, page 311. From the entry bandkid
  • It was so cold that the ball clanked off the glove of the usually sure-handed Reds infielder for an error.2006, Bob Chandler, Bill Swank, Bob Chandler's Tales from the San Diego Padres, →ISBN, page 142. From the entry sure-handed
  • And their feet clanking along the footpath.2002, Mike Royston, A New Windmill Book of Very Short Stories, Heinemann, →ISBN, page 74. From the entry reeshle
  • De Paor’s Clontarf pumping station — an angular, clanking, copper-clad bunker at the end of Vernon Avenue — will be finished within three months.2003 March 16, Shane O’Toole, “Architecture: Designer with a dream”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC. From the entry id est
  • He heard the hateful clank of their chains; he felt them cringe and grovel, and there rose within him a protest and a prophecy.1903 April 18, W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois, “Of Alexander Crummell”, in The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, Chicago…. From the entry cringe
  • Smalling’s challenge was weak and, when Lucas buried his shot, the night air was filled with the clanking of thousands of red plastic seats being emptied.2018 August 27, Daniel Taylor, “Lucas Moura double for Spurs deepens gloom at Manchester United”, in The Guardian (London). From the entry clanking
  • A covey of grey soldiers clanked down the platform at the double with their equipment and embarked, but in absolute silence, which seemed to them very singular.1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN; republished in The Avignon Quintet, London: Faber and Faber, 2004…. From the entry covey
  • When she introduced the subject of ghosts, then, there was nothing wifty-wafty about it, nothing of mix-and-match designer religiosity or shopworn tales featuring clanking chains on dark and stormy nights.2004, Robert Kastenbaum, On Our Way: The Final Passage Through Life and Death, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 406. From the entry wifty-wafty

Meaning of clank

  1. noun A loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal.
  2. noun Synonym of clanker (“a robot or artificial intelligence”).
  3. verb To make a clanking sound.

Full definition of clank

Questions about clank in a sentence

How do you use clank in a sentence?
Clank is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The chains clanked.”
What is a short sentence with clank?
“The chains clanked.”
What does clank mean?
Clank means a loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clank (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use clank in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/clank. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.