Etymology Onomatopoeia for two footsteps in succession.
1
Onomatopoeic The sound of steps on hard ground, especially of a horse's hooves.
Meronyms: clop, cloop
The wagon creaked, swayed, moved on to strange accompaniment— clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop. The horses were trotting on hard road.1925, Zane Grey, The Thundering Herd:
3 more examples
1984, Anthony C. Yu, tr. 吴承恩, 西游记 (Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West) http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0226971538&id=1q2jr5jttaUC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=%22clip-clops%22&sig=AK8LZaIEHgK0n1Bxa7jLM3YK_Xo With loud clip-clops, several middle-aged women ran out from within to stare at the T’ang monk, grinning stupidly all the time.
Suddenly I heard the familiar “clip-clop, clip-clop” of shower shoes coming up the path behind me—and a rapid pace it was.2001, Dave Zorn, Dinky Dau: Love, War, and the Corps:
2003, Ann Redisch Stampler, Something for Nothing http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0618159827&id=F6U_tU8-FFkC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=clip-clop&sig=bhYqdn7LQFMg6a0BuBGFIgpnP2E All night long, Dog heard the clip-clop of horses hauling the wagons to market.
clip-clop
verb
Etymology Onomatopoeia for two footsteps in succession.
1
To make a clip-clop noise.
At the some moment, a horse clip-clops past, hauling a wagon.1999, Mary Downing Hahn, Anna All Year Round:
2002, D J Vallone, For the Love of Freedom http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0595226183&id=xKV1VCsAwZIC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=%22clip-clops%22&sig=-LkO8mWX7qKZGvv2vcIXOHpIqYM One of several pairs of mounted police in flak jackets clip-clops past, patrolling the perimeter.
1 more example
There was a single arrivals platform, nearest to King's Cross. The large arch beneath the clock gave access to Hansom carriages clip-clopping up the cobbled ramp from the main gate in Euston Road, directly onto the platform, to meet well-to-do passengers.2023 August 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: End damaging drift at Euston”, in RAIL, number 990, page 3: