To clomp means to walk with heavy, loud footsteps that make a distinctive thumping sound. When you wear boots or heavy shoes and walk without trying to be quiet, you clomp across the floor. Picture someone wearing ski boots walking through a house, or a tired hiker in muddy work boots climbing up wooden stairs: each step makes a solid, echoing clomp, clomp, clomp.

The word captures both the sound and the feeling of this kind of walking. It's usually unintentional rather than rude. Someone might clomp down the hallway simply because they're wearing heavy footwear, or because they're too tired to lift their feet properly. Little kids sometimes clomp around in their parents' oversized shoes, and horses clomp along paved roads with their hooves.

Clomping differs from other walking words: stomping suggests anger or emphasis, tiptoeing means trying to be silent, but clomping is just naturally noisy, heavy walking. If your mom asks you not to clomp around upstairs while your baby sister is napping, she's asking you to walk more lightly or take off those heavy shoes.