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# clatter

«clatter» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make a loud, rattling noise as hard things bang…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (clatter, clatters, clattered, clattering); noun (a clatter — usually singular)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To clatter is to make a loud, rattling noise as hard things bang against each other, like falling pans or shoes on stairs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#m1)

2) A clatter is that loud, rattling noise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#m2)

3) To clatter somewhere is to move noisily («clatter down the stairs»). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, a clatter tells the reader something fell or someone is arriving noisily: dishes, hooves, a dropped tray. In writing lessons it is an example of onomatopoeia, a word that sounds like its meaning. Everyday: the clatter of plates in the school canteen.

### examples

- The pans clattered to the floor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x1)
- We heard the clatter of horses' hooves on the road. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x2)
- He clattered down the stairs in his boots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x3)
- The tray fell with a loud clatter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x4)
- The train clattered over the bridge. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x5)
- There was a clatter of cutlery in the dining hall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x6)
- The bike clattered when the chain came off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x7)
- They rushed clattering into the hut, exclaiming, ‘We smell human flesh! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: clattered. Close to «rattle» and «clang»; «clatter» is many quick bangs. Do not confuse with «clutter» (a messy pile of things).

### In the corpora

- [Real roadrunners do not say «meep meep»; they make soft cooing sounds and loud rattles by clattering their beaks.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/122-looney-tunes-real-roadrunner-and-coyote/7/)
- [Storks hardly have a voice; they greet each other by throwing their heads back and clattering their bills like a wooden toy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/375-white-storks-ukraine-s-favourite-birds-and-their-journey-to-africa/3/)
- [White storks are almost silent and clatter their bills to greet each other, while chicks hiss and mew before they learn to clatter.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/375-white-storks-ukraine-s-favourite-birds-and-their-journey-to-africa/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «clatter» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clatter/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.