thud

/θəd/

/θəd/

Other forms: thudding; thudded; thuds

To thud is to make the loud sound of something heavy hitting or falling. Tip your chair too far back and your body may thud against the floor.

Throw an egg off a balcony onto the pavement below, and it will splat, but throw a heavy dumbbell off the same balcony and it will thud — you can call the sound it makes a thud as well. The verb originally meant "to strike, stab, or thrust," from the Old English imitative word þyddan, and the noun was used to mean "blast of wind" in the early sixteenth century.

Definitions of thud

1. noun

   a heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects)
   synonyms: clump, clunk, thump, thumping

   type of:

   sound

   the sudden occurrence of an audible event
2. verb

   make a dull sound
   “the knocker thudded against the front door”

   synonyms: thump

   type of:

   go, sound

   make a certain noise or sound
3. verb

   strike with a dull sound
   type of:

   collide with, hit, impinge on, run into, strike

   hit against; come into sudden contact with
4. verb

   make a noise typical of an engine lacking lubricants
   synonyms: crump, scrunch

   type of:

   crackle, crunch, scranch, scraunch

   make a crushing noise