noun / verb

clatter

KLAT-er/klˈætɝ/

A loud rattling noise made by hard objects striking together.

Forks and spoons clatter against the tabletop as the tray tips over.

A tipped metal cutlery tray spills forks and spoons onto a hard tabletop, with several utensils visibly colliding and bouncing to suggest a loud rattling clatter.

Etymology

Clatter is imitative in origin, and the noun names the noise made by the corresponding action. Its verbal ending indicates repeated action, fitting the succession of impacts heard in a rattling noise.

In context

Dad Retribution71:12

… the kitchen steam the clatter of pots and pans startled faces frozen in place …

I Came To Visit My Daughter… Found Her Trapped At A Care Center. “There’s Someone Else Next Door…”

More examples

A sudden clatter comes from the cupboard.
The cart clattered over the uneven pavement.
We hear tools clattering in the back of the truck.

Forms

clatter · clatters · clattered · clattering

Similar words

rattle: Rattle suggests rapid repeated knocks; clatter usually emphasizes louder impacts from hard objects.