clink
nounEtymology
From Middle English clinken, from Old English *clincan (compare clynnan, clynian (“to sound; resound”)), from Proto-Germanic *klinganą (“to sound”). Cognates include Middle Dutch klinken and German klingen. Related to cling (sound) and clang. May be further related to call. Perhaps of onomatopoeic origin, as metal against metal.
Definitions
The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass.
- You could hear the clink of the glasses from the next room.
Stress cracks produced in metal ingots as they cool after being cast.
To make a clinking sound
To make a clinking sound; to make a sound of metal on metal or glass on glass; to strike materials such as metal or glass against one another.
- The hammers clinked on the stone all night.
- The broken sheds look'd sad and strange, / Unlifted was the clinking latch, / Weeded and worn the ancient thatch / upon the lonely moated grange.
- On the other side: the rich, beautiful tapestry of WASP culture that constituted Levis's life—friends playing horseshoes at backyard cocktail parties, where girls swanned in chaise longues, clinking their gin and tonics.
›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer
To rhyme.
A prison.
- If he keeps doing things like that, he’s sure to end up in the clink.
To clinch
To clinch; to rivet.
A surname.
The neighborhood
Derived
clink-clanks, crambo-clink, clinkable, clinker, clinking stuff, clinkstone, clinky
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for clink. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA