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Clatter vs Wail - What's the difference?

clatter | wail | Related terms |

Clatter is a related term of wail.


In lang=en terms the difference between clatter and wail

is that clatter is to chatter noisily or rapidly while wail is to lament; to bewail; to grieve over.

As nouns the difference between clatter and wail

is that clatter is a rattling noise while wail is a prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.

As verbs the difference between clatter and wail

is that clatter is to cause to make a rattling sound while wail is to cry out, as in sorrow or anguish or wail can be (obsolete) to choose; to select.

clatter

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A rattling noise.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1907, author=
    • , title= The Dust of Conflict , chapter=7 citation , passage=The patter of feet, and clatter of strap and swivel, seemed to swell into a bewildering din, but they were almost upon the fielato offices, where the carretera entered the town, before a rifle flashed.}}
  • A loud disturbance.
  • Noisy talk or chatter.

    • Synonyms

    * commotion * racket

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cause to make a rattling sound.
  • * (Jonathan Swift)
    • You clatter still your brazen kettle.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=21 November , author=Michael Cragg , title=New music: Foxes - Home , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=Do we really need another doe-eyed female singer-songwriter with a penchant for electro-pop? Twenty-two-year-old Louisa Rose Allen, aka Foxes, certainly thinks so. Available as a free download via Neon Gold, her debut single Youth is a monster mix of keening vocals, slow-burn electronics and, by the song's end, big clattering drums. }}
  • * 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
    • When he came to Nottingham, he entered that part of the market where butchers stood, and took up his inn(2) in the best place he could find. Next, he opened his stall and spread his meat upon the bench, then, taking his cleaver and steel and clattering them together, he trolled aloud in merry tones:...
  • To make a rattling noise.
  • To chatter noisily or rapidly.
  • * Spenser
    • I see thou dost but clatter .
  • (Northern English) To hit; to smack.
  • * 1988 , , Friday Night Live
    • "I can't watch it because I have to go outside and clatter someone in the nuts!”
  • * 2010 , Gerald Hansen, Hand in the Till
    • “An Orange bitch clattered seven shades of shite out of her,” Padraig eagerly piped up.

    Derived terms

    * clatterer * clatteringly * clattery

    wail

    English

    Etymology 1

    Probably from (etyl) Etymology in Webster's Dictionary

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
    • She let out a loud, doleful wail .
  • Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
    • The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
    A bird's wail in the night.
  • A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
  • To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
  • To make a noise like mourning or crying.
    • The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
  • To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
    • to wail one's death
    (Shakespeare)
  • (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.
  • *
  • *
  • *
    • Derived terms
    * wailer * wailingly
    References

    Etymology 2

    Compare Icelandic word for "choice".

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To choose; to select.
  • * Henryson
    • Wailed wine and meats
    (Webster 1913) English terms with homophones