clanker
nounEtymology
From clank + -er, onomatopoeic. The sense meaning "robot" appears in science fiction at least as early as 1958. Its broader popular use increased on social media beginning around 2024, due to the AI boom. In this wave of usage, it was especially influenced by the word's appearance in the Star Wars franchise, particularly the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando. In Star Wars, the term was used towards B1-series battle droids, which were humanoid robots that were manufactured for the sole purpose of fighting in armed conflicts. Their nickname of "clanker" stems from the fact that they would frequently make clanking noises any time they moved around due to being cheaply mass-produced.
Definitions
Something that makes a clanking noise.
- Hurt him, hang him, Scrape-trencher, Stare-wearer, Wine-ſpiller, Mettle-clanker, Rogue by generation : Why dost heare Will?
- Poor boys have got to study hard. Then they’ll get rich too—they’ll be doctors, and officers, and officials. I want to be a clanker—with a sword at my side and spurs on my boots—clank, clank!
- The robots, designed by Kenjiro Okazaki, are cardboard tubes rather than the usual metal clankers.
A robot or artificial intelligence.
- I got laid off 'cause they got them goddamn clankers taking our jobs.
- Lousy clanker.
- Okay clankers, suck lasers!
A person who uses automated technology or generative AI.
- Education is getting overtaken by clankers.
›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer
A fib.
- Stop telling clankers!
- Have done with all thought of the fellow and of his clankers concerning his birth.
- "What a clanker!" Drusilla protested. "You're hardly setting us a good example, Pa!"
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for clanker. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA