clink

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /klɪŋk/ Rhymes: -ɪŋk === Etymology 1 === 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. ==== Noun ==== clink (plural clinks) (onomatopoeia) The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass. 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life Chapter V When Frere had come down, an hour before, the prisoners were all snugly between their blankets. They were not so now; though, at the first clink of the bolts, they would be back again in their old positions, to all appearances sound asleep. Stress cracks produced in metal ingots as they cool after being cast. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== clink (third-person singular simple present clinks, present participle clinking, simple past and past participle clinked) (ambitransitive) 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. 2021, Xan van Rooyen, By the Blood of Rowans (→ISBN): Driftwood chimes made by Deirdre clinked their music in the breeze, and neatly tended beds—kept so by me—brimmed with flowers and herbs in the surrounding garden. (humorous, dated) To rhyme. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From the Clink prison in Southwark, London, itself presumably named after sound of doors being bolted or chains rattling. ==== Alternative forms ==== klink ==== Noun ==== clink (plural clinks) (dated, slang) A prison. ===== Synonyms ===== See also Thesaurus:jail === Etymology 3 === ==== Verb ==== clink (third-person singular simple present clinks, present participle clinking, simple past and past participle clinked) (transitive, Scotland) To clinch; to rivet. === Anagrams === Linck