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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

clash.

A loud sound, like the crashing together of metal objects; a crash.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈklæʃ/Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈkʰl̥æʃ]Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈklaʃ/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/ˈklɛʃ/New-Zealand
  1. A loud sound, like the crashing together of metal objects; a crash.

    countable · onomatopoeic · uncountable
    I heard a clash from the kitchen, and rushed in to find the cat had knocked over some pots and pans.
  2. A skirmish, a hostile encounter.

    countable · uncountable
  3. match; a game between two sides.

    countable · uncountable
  4. An angry argument.

    countable · uncountable
  5. Opposition; contradiction; such as between differing or contending interests, views, purposes etc.

    countable · uncountable
    clash of beliefs
    culture clash
  6. A combination of garments that do not look good together, especially because of conflicting colours.

    countable · uncountable
    She was wearing a horrible clash of red and orange.
  7. An instance of restarting the game after a "dead ball", where it is dropped between two opposing players, who can fight for possession.

    countable · uncountable
  8. Chatter; gossip; idle talk.

    Scotland · countable · uncountable
  9. A heavy fall (of rain); heavy rain.

    UK · countable · dialectal · obsolete · possibly · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian klatskje (“to smack, slap”), West Frisian kletse, kletskje, Dutch kletsen (“to smack, slap, clash”), German Low German klattsen, klatsken (“to smack, splash”), German klatschen (“to clap, smack, slap”) and Klatsch (“a clapping sound; the din resulting from two or more things colliding”), Danish klaske (“to clash, splatter”).

verb/ˈklæʃ/Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈkʰl̥æʃ]Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈklaʃ/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/ˈklɛʃ/New-Zealand
  1. To make a clashing sound.

    intransitive
    The cymbals clashed.
  2. To cause to make a clashing sound.

    transitive
  3. To come into violent conflict.

    intransitive
    Fans from opposing teams clashed on the streets after the game.
  4. To argue angrily.

    intransitive
    My parents often clashed about minor things, such as the cleaning or shopping rota.
  5. To face each other in an important game.

    intransitive
  6. To fail to look good together; to contrast unattractively; to fail to harmonize.

    intransitive
    You can't wear that shirt! It clashes with your trousers.
    The hotel room was ugly, and the wallpaper clashed with the carpet.
  7. To coincide, to happen at the same time, thereby rendering it impossible to attend all.

    intransitive
    I can't come to your wedding because it clashes with a friend's funeral.
    I wanted to take German, but it clashed with art on the timetable.
  8. To chatter or gossip.

    Scotland · intransitive
  9. To play Clash Royale or Clash of Clans.

    intransitive · slang
    Dude, are we clashing tonight?
    Let's clash before bedtime.
Where this word comes from

Of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian klatskje (“to smack, slap”), West Frisian kletse, kletskje, Dutch kletsen (“to smack, slap, clash”), German Low German klattsen, klatsken (“to smack, splash”), German klatschen (“to clap, smack, slap”) and Klatsch (“a clapping sound; the din resulting from two or more things colliding”), Danish klaske (“to clash, splatter”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.