Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense clerks, present participle clerking, past tense, past participle clerked
1. countable noun
A clerk is a person who works in an office, bank, or law court and whose job is to look after the records or accounts.
She was offered a job as an accounts clerk with a travel firm.
2. countable noun
In a hotel, office, or hospital, a clerk is the person whose job is to answer the telephone and deal with people when they arrive.
[mainly US]
...a hotel clerk.
3. countable noun
A clerk is someone who works in a store.
[US]
4. verb
To clerk means to work as a clerk.
[mainly US]
Gene clerked at the auction. [VERB]
He clerked for the chief justice of the Supreme Court. [VERBfor noun]
clerk in British English
(klɑːk, US English and Canadian English klɜːrk)
noun
1.
a worker, esp in an office, who keeps records, files, etc
2. clerk to the justices
3.
an employee of a court, legislature, board, corporation, etc, who keeps records and accounts, etc
a town clerk
4. Also called: clerk of the House
(in the UK) a senior official of the House of Commons
5. Also called: clerk in holy orders
a cleric
6. US and Canadian short for salesclerk
7. Also called: desk clerk US and Canadian
a hotel receptionist
8. archaic
a scholar
verb
9. (intransitive)
to serve as a clerk
Derived forms
clerkdom (ˈclerkdom)
noun
clerkish (ˈclerkish)
adjective
clerkship (ˈclerkship)
noun
Word origin
Old English clerc, from Church Latin clēricus, from Greek klērikos cleric, relating to the heritage (alluding to the Biblical Levites, whose inheritancewas the Lord), from klēros heritage
clerk in American English
(klɜrk; British klɑrk)
noun
1.
a layman who has certain minor duties in a church
2.
an office worker who keeps records, types letters, does filing, etc.
3.
an official in charge of the records, accounts, etc. of a school board, court, town, etc.
4. US
a hotel employee who keeps the register, assigns guests to rooms, etc.
5. US
a person who sells in a store; salesclerk
6.
a person who handles mail, etc., as in a post office
7. Archaic
a clergyman
8. Archaic
a literate person; scholar
verb intransitive
9. US
to work or be employed as a clerk, esp. a salesclerk
Derived forms
clerkship (ˈclerkˌship)
noun
Word origin
ME < OFr & OE clerc, both < LL(Ec) clericus, a priest < Gr(Ec) klērikos, a cleric < klēros, lot, inheritance (later, from use in LXX, Deut. 18:2, of the Levites, hence the Christianclergy), orig., a shard used in casting lots < IE *klaro- < base *kel-, to strike > OIr clar, a board, tablet, L calamitas, calamity
Examples of 'clerk' in a sentence
clerk
His father was a bank clerk and his mother a nurse.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He was also set to buy a castle until a bank clerk spotted an error in a mortgage application and alerted cops.
The Sun (2016)
One man has received a particularly generous gift, courtesy of a hapless bank clerk.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Initially, they worked as clerks and journalists.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
The hotel clerk ran through the usual facilities before coming to an awkward halt.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The court clerk told her that the trial could be heard only at a crown court.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The retired office clerk was told it was for security reasons.
The Sun (2012)
So do three or four other claims clerks working within the same claims unit.
Peter F. Drucker MANAGEMENT: task, responsibilities, practices (1974)
She got a job as an insurance clerk.
The Sun (2012)
One of us was a court clerk.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The office of the clerk of superior court can be helpful in directing this matter.
Laszlo, John (MD) Understanding Cancer (1987)
Other southern women worked as clerks in newly organized government departments.
Garraty, John Arthur The American Nation: A History of the United States to 1877 (1995)
He looked like the insurance clerk that he was.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He was spotted by a court clerk and security marched him to the cells.
The Sun (2015)
The office clerks have been on full pay for more than three months.
The Sun (2008)
One is a filing clerk and another works in a medical records department.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Case details were so distressing an experienced court clerk had to leave the hearing.
The Sun (2011)
He is charged with failing to inform the clerk of the course that he would miss his first two rides.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He began his working life as a bank clerk and it transpired both our wives were members of the local tennis club.
The Sun (2013)
He was selected for the county colts and through this found a job as a clerk in Aldershot town hall.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
When she reached 15 she returned to the capital and found a job as a clerk in a department store.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
I ended up seeking the advice of assorted locals, from taxi drivers to bank clerks.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
After packing in his job at the auction house to become an insurance clerk, he had more money to spare and bought more turkeys.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Today the senior clerk's role resembles that of a chief executive of a multimillion-pound company.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They called him'the bank clerk who went to war '.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The office of Commons clerk goes back to the 14th century.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Despite a massive police inquiry and a 10,000 reward, no trace of the hospital clerk had previously been found.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
In other languages
clerk
British English: clerk NOUN
A clerk is a person whose job is to work with numbers or documents in an office.
She works as a clerk in a travel agency.
American English: clerk
Brazilian Portuguese: auxiliar de escritório
Chinese: 文书
European Spanish: oficinista
French: employé
German: Büroangestellte
Italian: impiegato
Japanese: 事務員
Korean: 사무원
European Portuguese: funcionário de escritório
Latin American Spanish: oficinista
All related terms of 'clerk'
law clerk
someone who assists a judge by researching cases and writing opinions
bank clerk
an employee of a bank
clerk-like
acting in a scholarly manner
desk clerk
A desk clerk is someone who works at the main desk in a hotel.
file clerk
a person hired to keep office files in order
head clerk
a supervisor ; manager
mail clerk
a person who performs clerical work in a post office
room clerk
a clerk at a hotel who assigns rooms to guests , keeps the guest register , sorts the incoming mail , etc
sales clerk
A sales clerk is a person who works in a shop selling things to customers and helping them to find what they want .
tally clerk
a person, esp on a wharf or dock or in an airport , who checks the count of goods being loaded or unloaded
town clerk
(in Britain until 1974) the secretary and chief administrative officer of a town or city
wage clerk
a worker in an office who calculates staff wages
wages clerk
a worker in an office who calculates staff wages
booking clerk
A booking clerk is a person who sells tickets , especially in a railway station .
county clerk
a senior local government official
filing clerk
an employee who maintains office files
invoice clerk
a worker , esp in an office, who deals with invoices
junior clerk
a clerk of low rank
mailing clerk
a person who performs clerical work in a post office
parish clerk
an official designated to carry out various duties , either for a church parish or a parish council
senior clerk
a clerk who is in a senior position and performs office tasks under minimal supervision
stated clerk
an administrative official in the Presbyterian Church and certain other Protestant churches
articled clerk
a trainee solicitor bound by a written contract
reception clerk
a person who works in a hotel at the desk or office where guests can books rooms or ask the staff questions
shipping clerk
a person employed by a company to arrange , receive, record, and send shipments of goods
Clerk of Court
an officer of the court who maintains the records, among other duties
clerk of works
an employee who supervises building work in progress or the upkeep of existing buildings
lay vicar
a member of a cathedral choir appointed to sing certain parts of the services
clerk of the House
a worker , esp in an office, who keeps records, files , etc
clerk in holy orders
a worker , esp in an office, who keeps records, files , etc
clerk to the justices
(in England ) a legally qualified person who sits in court with lay justices to advise them on points of law