klick

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɪk/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: click, clique
• Rhymes: -ɪk

Etymology 1

• Most likely a pseudo-condensed pronunciation of kilometer, being a suitably short word emphasizing k+l instead of /keɪ/ alone (the same principle as with military spelling alphabets, but also clearly distinguished from kilo (/kiːloʊ/) for kilogram).
• Possibly onomatopoeic of the sound of a military odometer. When a soldier would complete a mark, they would signal to their commander and denote movement of 1,000 meters by hoisting up their rifle and moving the gas regulator with their thumb, which made a "click" the commander could hear.

Noun

klick (plural klicks)

1. (slang, military) A kilometer.
   • 1990, Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion, 1st edition, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 165:

     Several klicks closer, the ruins of the City of Poets rose jaggedly against the skyline.

   • 2002 May, Robert J. Sawyer, Hominids (The Neanderthal Parallax; 1), Tor, →ISBN, page 82:

     an asteroid between one and three kilometers wide had slammed into the ground at fifteen klicks per second.

   • 2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Avery Johnson (David Scully), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Sierra 117:

     Chief, can you hear me?...(static) My bird's down. Half a klick -(static)- downriver from your position.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:klick.
2. (slang, usually in the plural) Kilometres per hour.

Usage notes

Though kilometers are not commonly used to measure distance in the USA, klick is commonly used by the US and UK militaries, which use the metric system almost exclusively in order to facilitate communication with allied forces. (In other English-speaking countries, civilians often say "k" or "k.m." instead.)

Synonyms

• (military slang: kilometer): click

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

klick (plural klicks)

1. Alternative spelling of click

Anagrams

• L-kick

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɪk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪk

Verb

klick

1. singular imperative of klicken
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of klicken

Swedish

Noun

klick c

1. a clique (closed group)
2. a knob, a dab (small mass of some sticky substance)

   en klick smör

   a knob of butter

   en klick hallonsylt

   a dab/dollop of raspberry jam

Declension

Noun

klick n

1. a click (brief, sharp sound)
2. a click (act or instance of pressing a mouse button)

Declension

Related terms

• klicka

References

• klick in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• klick in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• klick in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)