clink1

[klingk] /klɪŋk/
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1.
to make or cause to make a light, sharp, ringing sound:
The coins clinked together. He clinked the fork against a glass.
noun
2.
a clinking sound.
3.
Metallurgy. a small crack in a steel ingot resulting from uneven expanding or contracting.
4.
a pointed steel bar for breaking up road surfaces.
5.
Archaic. a rhyme; jingle.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English clinken, perhaps < Middle Dutch clinken to sound, ring, resound

clink2

[klingk] /klɪŋk/
noun, Slang.
1.
a prison; jail; lockup.
Origin
1505-15; after Clink, name of prison in Southwark, London, perhaps < Dutch klink door-latch
Examples from the web for clink
  • Each day he heard the clink of all the quarters, dimes, and nickels that his employees loaded on and off each bus.
  • The bosses of many big companies are also in the clink or on the run.
  • There's a clink of cutlery, a murmur of appreciative conversation from the dining room.
  • Please clink on the link provided, to view fact sheets for safe food handling in emergencies.
  • For detailed information, please clink a link below.
  • clink the link at the bottom left side of this page.
  • If you have not received a registration form in the mail, you may clink on the link below for a copy.
British Dictionary definitions for clink

clink1

/klɪŋk/
verb
1.
to make or cause to make a light and sharply ringing sound
noun
2.
a light and sharply ringing sound
3.
(Brit) a pointed steel tool used for breaking up the surface of a road before it is repaired
Word Origin
C14: perhaps from Middle Dutch klinken; related to Old Low German chlanch, German Klang sound

clink2

/klɪŋk/
noun
1.
a slang word for prison
Word Origin
C16: after Clink, name of a prison in Southwark, London
Word Origin and History for clink
v.

early 14c., echoic (cf. Dutch klinken, Old High German klingan, German klingen). Related: Clinked; clinking. The noun in the sound sense is from c.1400.

n.

"sharp, ringing sound made by collision of sonorous (especially metallic) bodies," c.1400, from clink (v.).

"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.)).

Slang definitions & phrases for clink

clink

noun

A black person; brother (Black)