clang·er

(klăng′ər)

n. Chiefly British

A blunder; a faux pas.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

clanger

(ˈklæŋə)

1. informal a conspicuous mistake (esp in the phrase drop a clanger)

2. something that clangs or causes a clang

[C20: from clang, referring to a mistake whose effects seem to clang]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

clang•er

(ˈklæŋ ər)

n.

1. a person or thing that clangs.

2. Brit. Slang. a blunder; faux pas.

[1945–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

clanger - a conspicuous mistake whose effects seem to reverberate; "he dropped a clanger"

blooper, blunder, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, pratfall, bloomer - an embarrassing mistake

Britain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; `Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom

Translations

gaffe

clanger

[ˈklæŋəʳ] N (Brit) → plancha f (Sp) , metedura f or (LAm) metida f de pata
to drop a clanger → meter la pata, tirarse una plancha (Sp)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

clanger

[ˈklæŋə^r] n (British) to drop a clanger → faire une boulette

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

clanger

n (Brit inf) → Fauxpas m, → Schnitzer m (inf); to drop a clanger → ins Fettnäpfchen treten (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

clanger

[ˈklæŋəʳ] n (Brit) (fam) → gaffe f inv
to drop a clanger → fare una gaffe

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

What I didn't know until this week, however, is that a Clanger first appeared in an episode of Noggin the Nog, when it landed in a small spaceship during the inauguration of a new horse trough.

Lament for the passing of Oliver Postgate

DIPPY PARIS HILTON dropped a clanger when she confused BOYZONE singer RONAN KEATING's Irish accent for an English one.

ViP: I love your English accent, Ronan!

A distraught Steve Harper held his hands up after his clanger saw Newcastle United go down to a dismal 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane yesterday.

Blame me

MORE gaffes at the Beeb this week after everyone's favourite pundit Eleanor Oldroyd `s previous monumental clanger.

in off the POST: gaffes at the Beeb

5 The Clangers - Small Clanger, Tiny Clanger and the rest of the family of shocking pink mice lived with the Soup Dragon on a small, unidentified moon, and whistled at each o t he r.

TV: Pure magic: CHILDREN'S TV... IN THE MIDDLE; REMEMBER who to call if your mansion house needs haunting and who lives at number 29 Acacia Avenue? No - well take a trip down memory lane with Bagpuss, Bill and Ben, Magic Roundabout, Mary, Mungoo and Midge, Mr Benn...the list is seemingly endless. But what's your favourite childrenn's television programme?

Workers often drop a huge 'clanger' on their first day in a new job, such as swearing in front of their boss.

Workforce: First-day nerves

To make the base and top of the clanger - cut out two discs from the flattened bread to the size of the circumference of the mould.

British cheese now takes the biscuit. Food & Drink Recipes

MR Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the EU Commission has dropped a clanger!

Letter: MAILBAG - 'Europhiles are lying'

Movie fans also reckon Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, has the year's worst clanger.

Spider-Man in a web of film gaffes

Even the legendary language mangler Bush didn't drop a clanger like that.

TED BLUNDERS

As well as partaking in the Soup Dragon's soup, they would eat blue string pudding, communicate with an iron chicken and find notes from music trees to power Major Clanger's music boat.

The Clangers

Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Cookson was so astounded with the council clanger that he went on to the streets of Newcastle to take pictures of it and other blunders.

Rubbish idea that caused red faces