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clinker

1 American  
[kling-ker] / ˈklɪŋ kər /

noun

Slang.

  1. any mistake or error.

  2. something that is a failure; a product of inferior quality.

  3. a wrong note in a musical performance.

  4. British. someone or something wonderful or exceedingly well-liked.

clinker 2 American  
[kling-ker] / ˈklɪŋ kər /

noun

  1. a person or thing that clinks.

clinker 3 American  
[kling-ker] / ˈklɪŋ kər /

noun

  1. a mass of incombustible matter fused together, as in the burning of coal.

  2. a hard Dutch brick, used especially for paving.

  3. a partially vitrified mass of brick.

  4. the scale of oxide formed on iron during forging.

  5. Geology. a mass of vitrified material ejected from a volcano.

verb (used without object)

  1. to form clinkers in burning.

clinker British  
/ ˈklɪŋkə /

noun

  1. the ash and partially fused residues from a coal-fired furnace or fire

  2. Also called: clinker brick.  a hard brick used as a paving stone

  3. a partially vitrified brick or mass of brick

  4. slang something of poor quality, such as a film

  5. slang a mistake or fault, esp a wrong note in music

"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

verb

  1. (intr) to form clinker during burning

"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

Etymology

Origin of clinker1

First recorded in 1830–40; special use of clinker 2

Origin of clinker2

First recorded in 1680–90; clink 1 + -er 1

Origin of clinker3

First recorded in 1635–45; from Dutch klinker (formerly klinkaerd ) “slag”; also a kind of brick, derivative of klinken, clinken “to clink” (from the sound the material makes when struck)

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.

Conch and Huawei have developed AI tools for more precisely predicting clinker strength, as well as for controlling energy use at the kiln where it is made.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025

The house is wrapped in clinker brick, a term for when clay bricks are set too close to the flames when being fired in a kiln, giving them distorted shapes and colors.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025

"She has made enough ridiculous rulings in this case that nobody should be surprised if she makes another clinker," he told Salon.

From Salon • Aug. 12, 2024

"We found the combination of cement clinker and iron oxide is an excellent steelmaking slag because it foams and it flows well," said Dunant.

From Science Daily • May 22, 2024

By April the berries were in and a post-and- beam shed-barn, and by summer Carl could be seen framing up walls and mortaring clinker brick.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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.