clink
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
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clinks,
present (3rd person singular)
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clinked,
past participle, past
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clinking
present participle
noun
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a clinking sound.
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Metallurgy. a small crack in a steel ingot resulting from uneven expanding or contracting.
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a pointed steel bar for breaking up road surfaces.
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Archaic. a rhyme; jingle.
noun
verb
noun
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a light and sharply ringing sound
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a pointed steel tool used for breaking up the surface of a road before it is repaired
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clinksimple
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clinkssimple
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have clinkedperfect
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has clinkedperfect
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am clinkingprogressive
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are clinkingprogressive
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is clinkingprogressive
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have been clinkingperfect progressive
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has been clinkingperfect progressive
Past
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clinkedsimple
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had clinkedperfect
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was clinkingprogressive
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were clinkingprogressive
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had been clinkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clink1
1275–1325; Middle English clinken, perhaps < Middle Dutch clinken to sound, ring, resound
Origin of clink2
1505–15; after Clink, name of prison in Southwark, London, perhaps < Dutch klink door-latch
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If Quentin Tarantino pastiche were a crime, these films would be hauled off to the clink.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
I could hear laughter in the background, the clink of glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
Or maybe the appetizers are the whole of it, a nice chance to clink glasses with the neighbors or some old friends passing through town.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
When the judge sent him off to the clink, Puck’s Teddy Schleifer reported, his mother cried in the courtroom.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2023
She drops Suma’s Cog into a bowl with a metallic clink.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
It’s where she assembled her crew of queer Chicanos, architects in the construction of Valentina, the icon: including makeup artist Ernesto Casillas, who clinks margaritas with her hairstylist, Ricky Fraser, at the bar nearby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
She surreptitiously complies, then clinks champagne glasses with her bros, smiling duplicitously in place of offering, "Skål."
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2023
Crouched around a smoking barbeque, down a back alley in Seoul, Lee Geon-il clinks glasses with his friends and they knock back their first soju of the night.
From BBC ● May 8, 2022
In Swansea, for instance, officials carry out what they call “clink tests” — they go around shaking trash bags to see if there are any clinks or clanks, identifying recyclable objects.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2022
The three descend into silence as silverware clinks and scrapes against bone china and beverages slowly disappear from glasses.
From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
Champagne flutes clinked as the president and the King raised toasts to one another, celebrating the deep-rooted ties and shared history between the countries.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
They clinked champagne glasses, and toasted to love and life, before family and friends left the room for the procedure.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2025
They ate in a private room, which they accessed via the kitchen, and clinked glasses of Veuve champagne.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2022
Pitlick added to the highlight reel with his behind-the-net shot that clinked off the side of Binnington's mask to cut the lead to 5-2 late in the second period.
From Fox News ● Jan. 2, 2022
But in the next second the scissors clinked onto the shelf.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Back in the members’ club, surrounded by budding Renaissance men clinking Champagne flutes, Peter Mignacca announced that he was here for practical tips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Emma Straub chimed in, “OMG!!!!!!,” and Rosecrans Baldwin left some emojis: clinking bubbly glasses to toast the news.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
Hours before strikes hit Iraq's capital, crowds milled in central Baghdad to the sound not of missiles but clinking coffee cups, children laughing and women filming TikToks.
From Barron's ● Mar. 14, 2026
So the next time you reach past the clinking crowd of condiments for the same familiar jar, you might try not to flinch.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
Except for the sound of Mama humming and the clinking of dishes as she washed them in the sink, the house was quiet.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
