click of death

noun

A clicking sound produced by the unexpected movement of the read-write actuator in a Zip drive or hard drive, associated with hardware failure.

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Meanings

nounclick of death (plural clicks of death)

plural clicks of death

  1. informalcomputingA clicking sound produced by the unexpected movement of the read-write actuator in a Zip drive or hard drive, associated with hardware failure.

Origin

Coined in the 1990s with reference to Zip drives.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

click of death. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/click%20of%20death

MLA

“click of death.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/click%20of%20death. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “click of death,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/click%20of%20death.

Source: click of death on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.