clatter

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English[edit]

This entry needs a sound clip exemplifying the definition.

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English clatren (“to make a rattling sound”), from Old English *clatrian (attested as the Late Old English gerund clatrung), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Dutch klateren, kletteren.

The noun, derived from the verb, is first attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

clatter (third-person singular simple present clatters, present participle clattering, simple past and past participle clattered)

  1. (intransitive) To make a rattling sound.
  2. (intransitive) To chatter noisily or rapidly.
    • c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:
      But if that I knewe what his name hight, / For clatering of me I would him ſone quight; / For his falſe lying, of that I ſpake never, / I could make him ſhortly repent him forever: […]
    • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iulye. Ægloga Septima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, →OCLC, folio 29, recto:
      Here is a great deale of good matter, / loſt for lacke of telling, / Now ſicker I see, thou doeſt but clatter: / harme may come of melling.
  3. (Northern England) To hit; to smack.
    • 1988, Harry Enfield, Friday Night Live:
      "I can't watch it because I have to go outside and clatter someone in the nuts!”
    • 2010, Gerald Hansen, Hand in the Till:
      “An Orange bitch clattered seven shades of shite out of her,” Padraig eagerly piped up.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun[edit]

clatter (plural clatters)

  1. A rattling noise; a repetition of abrupt, sharp sounds.
    • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict‎[1]:
      The patter of feet, and clatter of strap and swivel, seemed to swell into a bewildering din, but they were almost upon the fielato offices, where the carretera entered the town, before a rifle flashed.
    • 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian‎[2]:
      There was something distinctly low-key, even wilfully alienating about the band’s performance. A scattering of OK Computer tracks were interspersed with more abstract latterday material – the clatter of 15 Step and Myxamatosis.
    • 1978, William Cookson, Agenda‎[3], volume 16, number 1 - v. 18, Poets and Painters Press, →OCLC, page 7:
      ... disintegrated Incredibly , pitched your clattering pieces to the bottom stair Of intellect , insisting that you start Again . Or proud - flesh , clotted mental pores , might claim Authentic miracle only to decry it . Campanulas .
  2. A loud disturbance.
  3. Noisy talk or chatter.
  4. (Ireland, informal) A large group, especially of sibling children; a lot
    • 1985, Emma Cooke, Eve's Apple p. 20 (Blackstaff Press) →ISBN
      There haven't been any men for years. The last one I can remember was a hairy old ballad singer who, it turned out, had a wife and a clatter of kids.
    • 2012 July 24, Dominic Coyle, "Business Q&A: No reason to pay PRSI for benefits you don’t need" The Irish Times
      There are a clatter of other PRSI classes. E is for Church of Ireland ministers only. H relates to enlisted military personnel and non-commissioned officers.
    • 2017 June 12, Darragh McManus, "Goodbye House: RTE's latest reality show is kind of terrible but also sweet and touching" Irish Independent
      The children are ... all in early middle-age, which means a clatter of grandchildren, as well as her own offspring, descend on Rosemarie’s house on a regular basis.
    • 2019 June 6, Alanna Gallagher, "Artisan one-bed in Dublin 4 has thought of everything for €450k" The Irish Times
      The artisan redbrick cottages that line the streets off Barrow Street in Ringsend, Dublin 4 are pretty to look at, but, while historically clatters of kids have been reared within their walls, they can seem a bit compact for modern living.
    • 2020 February 1, Marian Keyes "Am I ever going to feel like a grown-up?" The Irish Times
      We assume that because a person has been elected to the Dáil or because they have a clatter of compliant, photo-ready children or they’re in a helicopter and their nickname is Slasher Larkin, their every utterance is gospel.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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