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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

It was a night in which teams in the powerful Trinity League showed a chink in their armor.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2025

As the party reflects on its heavy losses in local elections, some Tory MPs have been framing Mr Street's defeat as a chink of light in a black horizon.

From BBC • May 9, 2024

This lack of response seems to be a chink in the body's armor that Mtb exploits to such devastating effect.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024

South Africa, in turn, would like to exploit this chink in India’s armour.

From Washington Times • Nov. 4, 2023

It was like he’d found a chink in her armor and had squeezed through, insisting with his easy laughter and his goofy jokes that she like him.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• crevice
• fissure