different between clump vs clank

English

Etymology

From Middle English clompe, from Old English clymppe, a variant of clympre (“a lump or mass of metal”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“mass, lump, clump; clasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *glemb?- (“lump, clamp”).Alternatively, possibly from Middle Dutch clompe or Middle Low German klumpe (compare German Klumpen). Cognates include Danish klump (probably from Low German as well). Compare Norwegian Bokmål klump.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kl?mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

clump (plural clumps)

1. A cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass.
2. A thick group or bunch, especially of bushes or hair.
   • 1954, Lucian Hobart Ryland (translator), Adelaide of Brunswick (originally by Marquis de Sade)

     clump of trees

3. A dull thud.
4. The compressed clay of coal strata.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Brande & C to this entry?)

5. A small group of trees or plants.
6. (historical) A thick addition to the sole of a shoe.

Derived terms

• clumpy

Translations

to be checked

Verb

clump (third-person singular simple present clumps, present participle clumping, simple past and past participle clumped)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To form clusters or lumps.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To gather in dense groups.
3. (intransitive) To walk with heavy footfalls.
4. (transitive, Britain, regional) To strike; to beat.
   • 1912, Mrs. Coulson Kernahan, The Go-Between (page 79)

     There is his poor little cap hanging up on the door; and there on the table is the knife he chipped a piece out of through not minding the mark on the knife machine, and I clumped his head for him, poor lamb!

Derived terms

• clump up

Translations

References

Further reading

• Clump in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klæ?k/
• Rhymes: -æ?k

Noun

clank (plural clanks)

1. A loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal.

Usage notes

• Clank usually expresses a duller or less resounding sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink.

Derived terms

• clankless
• clanky

Translations

Verb

clank (third-person singular simple present clanks, present participle clanking, simple past and past participle clanked)

1. (intransitive) To make a clanking sound

   The chains clanked.

2. (transitive) To cause to sound with a clank.

   The prisoners clank their chains.

Translations