means To make a loud, harsh, blaring sound — especially the noise of a car horn or a goose.

from An imitative word, born by mimicking the very sound it names — the same instinct that gave us 'honk' for a goose's cry. English has used it for the goose since the 19th century; once cars arrived with their blaring horns, the word slid neatly onto them too, because nothing else captured that flat, nasal blast quite so well.