clink
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
(onomatopoeia), as metal against metal.
In the sense of “jail”, from the Clink prison in Southwark, London, itself presumably named after sound of doors being bolted or chains rattling.
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
clink (plural clinks)
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- (onomatopoeia) The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass.
- You could hear the clink of the glasses from the next room.
- 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.
- (slang) Jail or prison, after the Clink prison in Southwark, London. Used in the phrase in the clink.
- If he keeps doing things like that, he’s sure to end up in the clink.
- Stress cracks produced in metal ingots as they cool after being cast.
Synonyms [edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:jail
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
Verb [edit]
clink (third-person singular simple present clinks, present participle clinking, simple past and past participle clinked)
- 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.
