How to Use clunk in a Sentence
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Mac, the chocolate lab, is clunking around the kitchen.
—Jim Owczarski, Cincinnati.com, 22 Dec. 2017
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This closer might just clunk up for third or fourth place.
—New York Times, 4 May 2018
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The rod's bushings are a likely source of a clunking noise.
—Stef Schrader, Popular Mechanics, 25 Apr. 2020
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The only sounds are clunking crates, the beep of reversing trucks, and the soft thud of a jogger’s gait.
—Ali Francis, Bon Appetit, 24 Apr. 2017
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The only sounds are clunking crates, the beep of reversing trucks, and the soft thud of a jogger’s gait.
—Ali Francis, Bon Appetit, 24 Apr. 2017
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The artful heel is definitely not to be worn clunking down the stairs of the C train.
—Rebecca Ramsey, The Cut, 19 Oct. 2017
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Then through the San Joaquin river delta, clunking over bridges and past houseboats.
—Carl Nolte, SFChronicle.com, 29 June 2019
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Unlikely to win but could clunk up late for a minor prize.
—David Papadopoulos, Bloomberg.com, 5 May 2017
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Finally, the sound of locks clunking open, followed by a face in the doorway.
—Chris Ballard, SI.com, 2 Oct. 2019
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If the wind was blowing out, the ball might very well have clunked off the gigantic scoreboard that's now perched atop the ivy for a game-turning grand slam.
—Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2018
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Redskins defensive tackle Ziggy Hood rolled onto the side of the burly tackle’s leg and Peters clunked to the grass like an anvil.
—Jeff McLane, Philly.com, 24 Oct. 2017
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The sink stopper had clunked down, permanently closed, so some idiot (probably me) had yanked it out by his fingernails and placed it to the side.
—Chris Erskine, latimes.com, 8 June 2018
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Junis’ 10th pitch clunked Matt Chapman somewhere on the back of his head, sending his helmet flying and his teammates into a panic.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2019
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Gone are the days of clunking heads together while sharing one pair of earbuds—not to mention having to scrape someone else’s earwax out of your tiny speaker grates.
—Wired, 24 Sep. 2019
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The first programmable computer—if it were built—would have been a gigantic, mechanical thing clunking along with gears and levers and punch cards.
—Sarah Lewin Frasier, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2015
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Whether cruising along or at full-stomp, the 10-speed auto shifted smoothly and crisply with no untoward hiccups, hunting or clunking.
—Jeff Yip, Houston Chronicle, 9 Feb. 2018
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A medical timeout for Čilić before the start of the third seemed only to delay the inevitable, as Federer broke serve at 3-3 after Čilić, well resigned to his fate, clunked another forehand into the net.
—Arnav Adhikari, The Atlantic, 17 July 2017
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In fact, Hamill says that one of the biggest Star Wars original trilogy secrets is that more than half the dialogue was recorded in post-production due to all the intrusive noises from smoke and wind machines, prop effects, and even clunking robots.
—James Hibberd, EW.com, 9 Dec. 2019
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Mac, the chocolate lab, is clunking around the kitchen.
—Jim Owczarski, Cincinnati.com, 22 Dec. 2017
-
This closer might just clunk up for third or fourth place.
—New York Times, 4 May 2018
-
The rod's bushings are a likely source of a clunking noise.
—Stef Schrader, Popular Mechanics, 25 Apr. 2020
-
The only sounds are clunking crates, the beep of reversing trucks, and the soft thud of a jogger’s gait.
—Ali Francis, Bon Appetit, 24 Apr. 2017
-
The only sounds are clunking crates, the beep of reversing trucks, and the soft thud of a jogger’s gait.
—Ali Francis, Bon Appetit, 24 Apr. 2017
-
The artful heel is definitely not to be worn clunking down the stairs of the C train.
—Rebecca Ramsey, The Cut, 19 Oct. 2017
-
Then through the San Joaquin river delta, clunking over bridges and past houseboats.
—Carl Nolte, SFChronicle.com, 29 June 2019
-
Unlikely to win but could clunk up late for a minor prize.
—David Papadopoulos, Bloomberg.com, 5 May 2017
-
Finally, the sound of locks clunking open, followed by a face in the doorway.
—Chris Ballard, SI.com, 2 Oct. 2019
-
If the wind was blowing out, the ball might very well have clunked off the gigantic scoreboard that's now perched atop the ivy for a game-turning grand slam.
—Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2018
-
Redskins defensive tackle Ziggy Hood rolled onto the side of the burly tackle’s leg and Peters clunked to the grass like an anvil.
—Jeff McLane, Philly.com, 24 Oct. 2017
-
The sink stopper had clunked down, permanently closed, so some idiot (probably me) had yanked it out by his fingernails and placed it to the side.
—Chris Erskine, latimes.com, 8 June 2018
- The book hit the floor with a loud clunk.
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The buzz-clunk when the guards first pop the cellblock door means it’s 7 a.m.
—Keri Blakinger, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2022
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The candies topple free with the clunk of wooden blocks.
—Laurence Scott, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
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In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd tossed a stone into a cave and heard a clunk as one of the stones hit a clay jar.
—Gary Schiff, Sun Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2022
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The ride back to the waters of Alaska's Inside Passage was full of noisy clunks against the hull.
—Plain Dealer Guest Writer, cleveland.com, 17 Jan. 2018
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The room got quiet as the wheel stopped with a double clunk on each new image.
—Dan Egan, jsonline.com, 2 Sep. 2021
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The door swung open with a clunk and a screech, and cold clean air rushed into his lungs like the first breath after a storm.
—Andrew Liptak, The Verge, 8 July 2018
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On his feet were the clunk-tastic sneakers from the Louis Vuitton Spring 2018 show.
—Liana Satenstein, Vogue, 22 Dec. 2017
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Cornering is sharp, but there will be clunks and bumps.
—Mark Maynard, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sep. 2019
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The rumble of water is punctuated by the clunk of stones, the buzzing of bees, the whistling and whooping of men bringing the flocks in for the night.
—Anthony Sattin, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Sep. 2022
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There’s was no clunk late in the period, though; Keith sniped the puck top corner for this third goal of the season.
—Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 16 Apr. 2021
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Some resembled the woody clunk of knuckles rapping on a door; others, the soft ringing of a gong.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 29 June 2021
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Somehow, perhaps unnerved by the clanks and clunks, Fanucci had escaped his crate, pulled down the window and leapt out.
—Ben Walker, The Seattle Times, 11 Feb. 2018
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And after a short scuffle and clunks of heavy hooves on the ground, an opposing player smacks the ball with his mallet in between two posts.
—Brittany Britto, baltimoresun.com, 5 June 2018
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The machine whirred and beeped for a moment, then the door slid open with a clunk, and a robotic arm dispensed the appropriate currency.
—Spud Hilton, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 May 2018
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The long-running CBS hit Survivor ended its 35th season with a clunk that left some fans wondering.
—Bill Ervolino, Bergen, 21 Dec. 2017
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The target, however, is not another bird but a small drone, and when the eagle connects, there is a metallic clunk.
—Stephen Castle, New York Times, 28 May 2016
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Also, my rides ended with an abrupt ka-clunk just before the trains proceeded to the station for unloading.
—Arthur Levine, USA TODAY, 10 July 2018
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The GX800VH's claim to fame is its external liquid cooling unit, which locks into docking ports at the back of the laptop with a satisfying clunk.
—Mark Walton, Ars Technica, 13 July 2017
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Dior’s clog offering has snob appeal and the shoes are deceptively streamlined, despite their clunk.
—Madeline Fass, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2018
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But despite the extra juice, the power glut is not obtrusive as the vehicle's two diverse and generally harmonious powertrains got down to it, save a one-time, mild clunk from the rear.
—Jamie Kitman, Car and Driver, 18 Mar. 2022
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Throughout its two seasons, HBO’s Westworld has trotted out no shortage of bad guys, from robot gunslingers to mad inventors to dialog that sputters and clunks.
—Brian Barrett, WIRED, 24 June 2018
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At some point, however, J.Crew’s fashion choices began to land with a clunk in the highly competitive retail clothing sector.
—Anne D’innocenzio, BostonGlobe.com, 4 May 2020
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On that fictitious planet, teens put on VR googles, thin as pencils rather than clunk like existing Oculus headsets, and transported themselves into nightclubs with friends.
—Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 10 Apr. 2022
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In Sindelfingen, Daimler’s airport-sized factory on the edge of Stuttgart, a vast assembly hall is uncannily quiet except for occasional clunks and whirrs.
—The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018
- The book hit the floor with a loud clunk.
-
The buzz-clunk when the guards first pop the cellblock door means it’s 7 a.m.
—Keri Blakinger, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2022
-
The candies topple free with the clunk of wooden blocks.
—Laurence Scott, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
-
In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd tossed a stone into a cave and heard a clunk as one of the stones hit a clay jar.
—Gary Schiff, Sun Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2022
-
The ride back to the waters of Alaska's Inside Passage was full of noisy clunks against the hull.
—Plain Dealer Guest Writer, cleveland.com, 17 Jan. 2018
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clunk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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