How do you use the word "clerk" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "clerk": The robber aimed his gun at the clerk. Bob worked as a clerk in the grocery store on Saturday.

Clerk Meaning

/klɑːk/

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounOne who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.

nounOne who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker., A salesclerk; a person who serves customers in a store or market.

Sentence Examples

The robber aimed his gun at the clerk.

Bob worked as a clerk in the grocery store on Saturday.

The clerk at the counter gave me too little change.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The hotel ____ handed me the key to my room.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The friendly store ____ helped me find exactly what I was looking for.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English clerc, from Old English clerc, from Late Latin clēricus (“priest, clergyman, cleric”, also generally “learned man, clerk”), from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “of the clergy”, adj. in church jargon), from κλῆρος (klêros, “lot, inheritance”, originally “shard used in casting lots”). Doublet of cleric. Compare typologically Russian дьяк (dʹjak) (akin to дья́кон (dʹjákon)).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"As office boy I made such a mark That they gave me the post of a junior clerk." — 1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “When I Was a Lad”, in H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC, page 10:

"Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well." — 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

"clerks; a brand of humanity which, as the literature from Dickens to Gogol makes only too clear, was hardly to be envied except perhaps for the privilege of public service, the security which allowed them to starve at an even rhythm all their lives." — 1962, Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution. 1789-1848, page 193:

"God save the King! Will no man say, amen? / Am I both priest and clerk? Well then, amen." — 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 4, scene 1]:

"He turned to a more attentive audience, and found it in the young fellow they called The Iceman, because he clerked in the swell jewelry store around the corner, and was always there with the finger advertisement for his boss’s diamondware." — 1908 July 4, “Iceman’s Boss Was Easy. How Needles Put the Jeweler Next to a Winner and an Accomodating^([sic]) Bookie. [New York Press.]”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume LXV, number 186, page 13, column 6:

Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words