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click

n. countable
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈkɫɪk// UK //klˈɪk// click Archaic Dialect General-service Informal Slang

n. the sound of a short, sharp noise, or the act of pressing a button on a computer mouse. You use it to describe selecting something on a screen.

n. a short, sharp sound; also, the act of depressing a button on a computer input device to trigger an action. Often used metonymically in digital marketing to represent user engagement.


SIMPLE

You can open the file with a double click.

CONTEXTUAL

The photographer waited for the perfect moment before he finally heard the click of the shutter.

COMPLEX

While the initial click on the advertisement is a positive metric, the marketing team is more concerned with the eventual conversion rate of those visitors.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Imitative 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 2

From Middle English clike, from Old French clique (“latch”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English cleken, a variant of clechen (“to grab”), perhaps from Old English clēċan, clǣċan, a byform of clyċċan (“to clutch”). More at clutch.

Usage

Often used in the phrase 'at the click of a button' to describe something that happens instantly.

Idioms1 entry

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