Quirk of brief noise made by a clock (3)
I believe the answer is:
tic
'quirk' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tic that I've seen before include "Nervous habit" , "Muscle twitch" , "Muscular contraction" , "Convulsive spasm" , "Fuel oil" .)