clip-clop
English
Alternative forms
- clip clop
Etymology
Onomatopoeia for two footsteps in succession.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈklɪp.klɒp/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈklɪp.klɔp/, /ˈklɪp.klɑːp/
- IPA(key): /k͜ǃ.k͜ǃ/ (onomatopoeic)
Noun
clip-clop (plural clip-clops)
- (onomatopoeia) The sound of steps on hard ground, especially of a horse's hooves.
- 1925, Zane Grey, The Thundering Herd:
- The wagon creaked, swayed, moved on to strange accompaniment— clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop. The horses were trotting on hard road.
- 1984, Anthony C. Yu, tr. 吴承恩, 西游记 (Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West)
- With loud clip-clops, several middle-aged women ran out from within to stare at the T’ang monk, grinning stupidly all the time.
- 2001, Dave Zorn, Dinky Dau: Love, War, and the Corps:
- Suddenly I heard the familiar “clip-clop, clip-clop” of shower shoes coming up the path behind me—and a rapid pace it was.
- 2003, Ann Redisch Stampler, Something for Nothing
- All night long, Dog heard the clip-clop of horses hauling the wagons to market.
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Translations
Onomatopoeia
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Verb
clip-clop (third-person singular simple present clip-clops, present participle clip-clopping, simple past and past participle clip-clopped)
- To make a clip-clop noise.
- 1999, Mary Downing Hahn, Anna All Year Round:
- At the some moment, a horse clip-clops past, hauling a wagon.
- 2002, D J Vallone, For the Love of Freedom
- One of several pairs of mounted police in flak jackets clip-clops past, patrolling the perimeter.
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Usage notes
- Used particularly of horses.
- Often repeated one or more times in succession to indicate multiple or continued steps.
- Sometimes voiced as a pair of alveolar clicks. This is the only common use of alveolar clicks in English.
Translations
Translations
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