Clink

Pronunciation

• IPA: /klɪŋk/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Origin

Onomatpoeic, 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.

Full definition of clink

Noun

1. (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 VWhen 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.
2. (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.
3. Stress cracks produced in metal ingots as they cool after being cast.

Synonyms

Derived terms

• in the clink

Verb

1. 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.
• Tennysonthe clinking latch
2. (humorous, dated) To rhyme.