chink

[ chingk ]

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noun

a crack, cleft, or fissure: a chink in a wall.
a narrow opening: a chink between two buildings.

verb (used with object)

to fill up chinks in.

Origin of chink

1350–1400; Middle English; perhaps chine¹ + -k suffix (see -ock)

Other words for chink

1	breach, rent, cut

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Other definitions for chink (2 of 3)

chink²

[ chingk ]

verb (used with or without object)

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

noun

a chinking sound: the chink of ice in a glass.
Slang. coin or ready cash.

Origin of chink

First recorded in 1565–75; imitative

Other definitions for Chink (3 of 3)

Chink

[ chingk ]

noun(sometimes lowercase)Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

Origin of Chink

1900–05; earlier Chinkie apparently alteration of China, Chinese by association with chink¹ (from the stereotypical Western image of Chinese as narrow-eyed); see -ie

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chink in a sentence

I gave him another twenty-dollar gold piece; he chinked them together, and held up two fingers.
Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War | Various
He then took the four pieces of gold, chinked them in his hand, and then put them again into his purse.
The Guide of the Desert | Gustave Aimard
Cornucopias of the trumpet-flower flared vividly, and here and there he caught a glimpse of a chinked log-cabin.
The Code of the Mountains | Charles Neville Buck
A broody blackbird 'chinked' anxiously, and a pigeon wheeled aside with a 'swoof.'
Lives of the Fur Folk | M. D. Haviland
The second day after we got into the woods we had the camp in pretty good shape, well chinked and calked.
Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper | Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock

British Dictionary definitions for chink (1 of 3)

chink¹

/ (tʃɪŋk) /

noun

a small narrow opening, such as a fissure or crack
chink in one's armour a small but fatal weakness

verb

(tr) mainly US and Canadian to fill up or make cracks in

Origin of chink

C16: perhaps variant of earlier chine, from Old English cine crack; related to Middle Dutch kene, Danish kin

Derived forms of chink

chinky, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for chink (2 of 3)

chink²

/ (tʃɪŋk) /

verb

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

noun

such a sound

Origin of chink

C16: of imitative origin

British Dictionary definitions for Chink (3 of 3)

Chink

taboo Chinky (ˈtʃɪŋkɪ)

/ (tʃɪŋk) /

noun, adjectiveplural Chinks or Chinkies

an old-fashioned and highly derogatory term for Chinese

Origin of Chink

C20: probably from Chinese, influenced by chink 1 (referring to the characteristic shape of the Chinese eye)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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