Sentence:  There was a <WSD>click</WSD> in the front sitting-room. Mr. Pearce had extinguished the lamp. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock or a latch, or a finger pressed against the thumb and then released to strike the hand.