clink
pronunciation
How to pronounce clink in British English:
UK [klɪŋk]
How to pronounce clink in American English:
US [klɪŋk]
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- Noun:
- a short light metallic sound
- a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
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- Verb:
- make a high sound typical of glass
- make or emit a high sound
Word Origin
- clink (v.)
- early 14c., echoic (compare Dutch klinken, Old High German klingan, German klingen). Related: Clinked; clinking. The noun in the sound sense is from c. 1400.
- clink (n.2)
- "prison," 1770s, apparently originally (early 16c.) the Clynke on Clink Street in Southwark, on the estate of the bishops of Winchester. To kiss the clink "to be imprisoned" is from 1580s, and the word and the prison name might be cognate derivatives of the sound made by chains or metal locks (see clink (v.)).
- clink (n.1)
- "sharp, ringing sound made by collision of sonorous (especially metallic) bodies," c. 1400, from clink (v.).
Example
- 1. Cheers when clink , but also to touch the sound .
- 2. She knows you were in the clink .
- 3. We heard clink come from that room .
- 4. It 's considered impolite to clink glasses unless you say " cheers " .
- 5. Later , like thiswill clink glasses then gradually develops into one kind of etiquette .