cluck

1 of 2

verb

ˈklək

clucked; clucking; clucks

intransitive verb

: to make a cluck

: to make a clicking sound with the tongue

: to express interest or concern

critics clucked over the new developments

transitive verb

: to call with a cluck

: to express with interest or concern

cluck

2 of 2

noun

: the characteristic sound made by a hen especially in calling her chicks

: a stupid or naive person

a dumb cluck

Example Sentences

Verb The hen clucked at her chicks. The driver clucked at the horses to get them moving. Commentators have been clucking over his lack of experience. Noun Don't be such a dumb cluck. stuck with a bunch of clucks on an extended bus tour

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Laughter usually had a 50 percent participation rate; whatever made two of us laugh usually made the other two roll their eyes or cluck their tongues.

Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2021 There are some people that just can't dance, some people that can't sing (even in the shower), and some people that can't cluck, cut, and yelp like a turkey.

Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 24 Nov. 2020 For Gen Xers staring down middle-aged obsolescence, the Williams twins’ video provides a satisfying twofer: a chance to cluck their tongues at clueless youths while confirming the supremacy of their own touchstones.

Jody Rosen, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2020 Each day the tawny redheads mingle and cluck, drink water and peck at their food.

Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 Apr. 2020 On a recent day Lein stood in one of her barns as a contented chorus of 9,400 chickens clucked and murmured.

Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 Apr. 2020 The latest iteration is Fifth Macroyan, a cluster of 18-story apartment towers now under construction, featuring balconies and large windows on a flat lot populated by clucking chickens.

David Zucchino, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2020 Your role here isn’t to cluck your tongue, but to find a safe and quick route past.

Matt Bean, Sunset Magazine, 20 Apr. 2020 August clucked his tongue and the cat came sidling up, arching its back, rubbing against August’s boot.

New York Times, 31 Mar. 2020

Noun

To subscribe to the Free Press for less than the price of a dozen eggs, cluck here.

Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 24 July 2022 Flat Rock has two chicken options, but with so many other food trucks dedicated to it, this isn’t destination-worthy cluck for your buck.

Chuck Blount, San Antonio Express-News, 1 Oct. 2021 Eating raw chicken can bring a cluck-load of other risks.

Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 3 July 2021 And never utter so much as a cluck without a setup tree and shooting lane in mind.

Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 22 Mar. 2021 With the pandemic raging, an encounter that days earlier might have ended in a friendly apology or a cluck of sympathy quickly turned ugly.

Melissa Chan, Time, 22 Feb. 2021 That set off some cluck-clucking among the neighbors.

Russ Mitchell Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2020 Once the first bird begins recalling with a yelp, cluck, or kee-kee, the game is on.

Gerry Bethge, Outdoor Life, 24 Nov. 2020 More calcium with every peck means more cluck for your buck.

Dallas News, 17 Aug. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cluck.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.