To make a sharp, rattling, or clattering sound; to clatter.
From Middle English or Old English, possibly imitative in origin (like 'clatter'). It may be related to 'click' and other onomatopoeia representing sharp sounds.
Words like 'clitter' are onomatopoeia—they literally sound like what they mean—and English speakers have invented hundreds of these sound-words, especially for snapping and clattering noises.
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