Meaning

noun a short light metallic sound

noun a stop consonant made by the suction of air into the mouth (as in Bantu)

noun a hinged catch that fits into a notch of a ratchet to move a wheel forward or prevent it from moving backward

originImitative of the "click" sound; first recorded in the 1500s. Compare Saterland Frisian klikke (“to click”), Middle Dutch clicken (Modern Dutch: klikken (“to click”)), Old High German klecchen (Modern German: klecken, klicken (“to click”)), Danish klikke (“to click”), Swedish klicka (“to click”), Norwegian klikke (“to click”), Norwegian klekke (“to hatch”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0