clonk

English

Imitative. Compare clink, clank, clunk.

clonk (plural clonks)

The abrupt sound of two hard objects coming into contact.
- 1959 March, R. C. Riley, “Home with the Milk”, in Trains Illustrated, page 154:
  Our milkman is a jovial character, but not one given to yodelling at the customers on his round. Only the resounding "clonk" of bottles advises us that a couple of pints have been left on the doorstep.
- 1969, Kurt Vonnegut, chapter 2, in Slaughterhouse-Five‎^[1], New York: Dial, published 2005, page 54:
  He passed under a low branch now. It hit the top of his helmet with a clonk.
- 2002, Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man:
  The minute hand moved with a clonk, and shuddered to a halt on the 9.
(fishing) A stick-like tool used to strike the surface of the water and produce a sound that causes nearby fish to attack the bait.

sound

clonk (third-person singular simple present clonks, present participle clonking, simple past and past participle clonked)

To make such a sound.
- 1953, Saul Bellow, chapter 17, in The Adventures of Augie March, New York: Viking Press, →OCLC, page 371:
  One half-naked kid with a garrison cap clonked on the marimba; the little black rubber balls on his sticks struck fast.

to make sound