Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "clatter" []

  • To make a rattling sound. (verb-intransitive)
  • To move with a rattling sound: clattering along on roller skates. (verb-intransitive)
  • To talk rapidly and noisily; chatter. (verb-intransitive)
  • To cause to make a rattling sound. (verb-transitive)
  • A rattling sound: the clatter of dishes in the kitchen. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "clatter" in a sentence
  • "That these come unexpectedly in the midst of endless gross clatter is one of those mysteries of the creative process best not to dwell upon."
  • "It's like being at the Seneca Niagara Casino and hearing the coins clatter into the tray of a slot machine."
  • "The soldiers wore the downcast, silent, and sullen looks with which they trail their arms at a funeral, and stepped with such caution that you could not hear a buckler ring or a sword clatter, though so many men in armour were moving around the tent."