clatter

present singular third person clatters · participle present clattering · participle past clattered · past clattered

1. intransitiveTo make a rattling sound.

   When all the bees are gone to settle, / You clatter still your brazen kettle.

   1728, Jonathan Swift, “A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 403

   4 more examples

   When he came to Nottingham, he entered that part of the market where butchers stood, and took up his inn in the best place he could find. Next, he opened his stall and spread his meat upon the bench, then, taking his cleaver and steel and clattering them together, he trolled aloud in merry tones: […]

   1883, Howard Pyle, “Robin Hood Turns Butcher”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part second, page 49

   Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, / And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred; […]

   1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1, stanza III, page 46

   I sprang up the break of the poop, and saw -- Wolf Larsen. What of my impetus and the stunning surprise, I clattered three or four steps along the deck before I could stop myself.

   1904, Jack London, chapter 32, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC

   [Hoop-and-stick] was not a little gentleman's game but was played by boys in heavy boots making a terrific noise as they clattered along on the pavements at quite a speed.

   1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 127

2. intransitiveTo chatter noisily or rapidly.

   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.

   1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iulye. Ægloga Septima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 29, recto

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   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: […]

   c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.

3. Northern EnglandTo hit; to smack.

   "I can't watch it because I have to go outside and clatter someone in the nuts!”

   1988, Harry Enfield, Friday Night Live

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   “An Orange bitch clattered seven shades of shite out of her,” Padraig eagerly piped up.

   2010, Gerald Hansen, Hand in the Till

plural clatters

1. A rattling noise; a repetition of abrupt, sharp sounds.

   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.

   1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC

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   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.

   2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian

   ... 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 .

   1978, William Cookson, Agenda, volume 16, number 1 - v. 18, Poets and Painters Press, →OCLC, page 7

2. A loud disturbance.
3. Noisy talk or chatter.
4. IrelandinformalA large group, especially of sibling children; a lot

   a young mother with a clatter of kids told me ... her Catholic doctor refused point-blank to advise other than the rhythm method.

   1970 December 22, “Women First; Contraception: what do you think?”, in The Irish Times, page 6

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   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.

   1985, Emma Cooke, Eve's Apple, Blackstaff Press, →ISBN, page 20

   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.

   2012 July 24, Dominic Coyle, “Business Q&A: No reason to pay PRSI for benefits you don’t need”, in The Irish Times

   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.

   2017 June 12, Darragh McManus, “Goodbye House: RTE's latest reality show is kind of terrible but also sweet and touching”, in Irish Independent

   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.

   2019 June 6, Alanna Gallagher, “Artisan one-bed in Dublin 4 has thought of everything for €450k”, in 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.

   2020 February 1, Marian Keyes, “Am I ever going to feel like a grown-up?”, in The Irish Times

5. alternativeAlternative form of clitter; scree.

   Clatter, or, as it is sometimes called, Clitter, is the name given to the confused masses of granite rocks that are so frequently seen covering large areas of ground on the hill sides of the moor, or clustering around the bases of many of the tors.

   1887, William Crossing, The Ancient Crosses of Dartmoor, Exeter: James G Commin, page 45