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• chink
  chink

  noun

  a crack, cleft, or fissure.
• Chink
  Chink

  noun

  a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

chink

¹ American  

[chingk] / tʃɪŋk /

noun

1. a crack, cleft, or fissure.

   a chink in a wall.

   Synonyms:

   cut, rent, breach

2. a narrow opening.

   a chink between two buildings.

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verb (used with object)

1. to fill up chinks in.

chink ² American  

[chingk] / tʃɪŋk /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make, or cause to make, a short, sharp, ringing sound, as of coins or glasses striking together.

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noun

1. a chinking sound.

   the chink of ice in a glass.

2. Slang. coin or ready cash.

Chink ³ American  

[chingk] / tʃɪŋk /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

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chink ¹ British  

/ tʃɪŋk /

noun

1. a small narrow opening, such as a fissure or crack

2. a small but fatal weakness

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verb

1. (tr) to fill up or make cracks in

chink ² British  

/ tʃɪŋk /

verb

1. to make or cause to make a light ringing sound, as by the striking of glasses or coins

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noun

1. such a sound

Chink ³ British  

/ ˈtʃɪŋkɪ, tʃɪŋk /

noun

1. an old-fashioned and highly derogatory term for Chinese

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Other Word Forms

• chinky
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of chink¹

1350–1400; Middle English; perhaps chine ¹ + -k suffix ( see -ock)

Origin of chink²

First recorded in 1565–75; imitative

Origin of Chink³

1900–05; earlier Chinkie apparently alteration of China, Chinese by association with chink ¹ (from the stereotypical Western image of Chinese as narrow-eyed); see -ie

Explanation

A chink is a very narrow opening or crack. A chink in your bedroom curtains might let enough early morning sunlight in that you'll wake up before your alarm goes off. Use the word chink to describe the slightest gap between slats in a blind or crevice between two rocks on a cliff. Sometimes the light that shows through this space is also called a chink; "Just a chink of light shone beneath the shade on the airplane window." Chink comes from the Old English cinu, "fissure," and the related cinan, "to crack or split."

Example Sentences

The big day was over, and the old cock-pheasant was alone with the melancholy song of a single robin, and a chaffinch calling "Chink!"

From The Way of the Wild by Rountree, Harry

Any one who doubts that a dog knows when he has made a fool of himself should have seen Chink that day as he sheepishly sneaked out of sight behind the tent.

From Wild Animals at Home by Seton, Ernest Thompson

Triumphant Star! some Pity shew On Coblers militant below, Whom roguish Boys in stormy Nights Torment, by pissing out their Lights; Or thro' a Chink convey their Smoke; Inclos'd Artificers to choke.

From Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Swift, Jonathan

If I do say it, I know the salmon business from gill net and purse seine to the Iron Chink and bank advances on the season's pack.

From Poor Man's Rock by Johnson, Frank Tenney

Poor little Bob! had he but tapped at the door of Man with his farewell "Chink," someone could have let him see a map of his journey.

From Bird Stories by Sim, Robert J.

Related Words

• crevice
• fissure