Clink

/klɪŋk/ · noun

Meaning

(onomatopoeia) The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass..

Definitions by Sense

1. (onomatopoeia) The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass.
2. Stress cracks produced in metal ingots as they cool after being cast.
3. (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.
4. (humorous, dated) To rhyme.
5. (dated, slang) A prison.
6. (transitive, Scotland) To clinch; to rivet.

Example Sentences

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.

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.

If he keeps doing things like that, he’s sure to end up in the clink.

Synonyms for clink

Antonyms for clink

Related Words

Word Forms

• clinks
• clinking
• clinked
• klink

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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