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)

1. (onomatopoeia) The sound of steps on hard ground, especially of a horse's hooves.
   • 1925, Zane Grey, The Thundering Herd‎^[1]:

     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) [2]

     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^[3]:

     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 [4]

     All night long, Dog heard the clip-clop of horses hauling the wagons to market.

Translations

Onomatopoeia

• Basque: txalaparta
• French: cataclop (fr), tagada (fr)
• Italian: zoccolata f
• Japanese: ド ド (dodo)
• Maori: pakopakō (Of horsehooves)
• Russian: цо́канье (ru) (cókanʹje)
• Scottish Gaelic: ligidh leagaidh
• Spanish: trápala f
• Vietnamese: lộp cộp (vi), lọc cọc (vi)

Verb

clip-clop (third-person singular simple present clip-clops, present participle clip-clopping, simple past and past participle clip-clopped)

1. To make a clip-clop noise.
   • 1999, Mary Downing Hahn, Anna All Year Round‎^[5]:

     At the some moment, a horse clip-clops past, hauling a wagon.

   • 2002, D J Vallone, For the Love of Freedom [6]

     One of several pairs of mounted police in flak jackets clip-clops past, patrolling the perimeter.

   • 2023 August 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: End damaging drift at Euston”, in RAIL, number 990, page 3:

     There was a single arrivals platform, nearest to King's Cross. The large arch beneath the clock gave access to Hansom carriages clip-clopping up the cobbled ramp from the main gate in Euston Road, directly onto the platform, to meet well-to-do passengers.

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

• Italian: zoccolare (it)
• Maori: pakopakō (Of horsehooves)
• Russian: цо́кать (ru) impf (cókatʹ)