clinker
1 Americannoun
-
any mistake or error.
-
something that is a failure; a product of inferior quality.
-
a wrong note in a musical performance.
-
British. someone or something wonderful or exceedingly well-liked.
noun
noun
-
a mass of incombustible matter fused together, as in the burning of coal.
-
a hard Dutch brick, used especially for paving.
-
a partially vitrified mass of brick.
-
the scale of oxide formed on iron during forging.
-
Geology. a mass of vitrified material ejected from a volcano.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
the ash and partially fused residues from a coal-fired furnace or fire
-
Also called: clinker brick. a hard brick used as a paving stone
-
a partially vitrified brick or mass of brick
-
slang something of poor quality, such as a film
-
slang a mistake or fault, esp a wrong note in music
verb
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has clinkeredperfect 3rd person singular
-
have clinkeredperfect
-
is clinkeringprogressive 3rd person singular
-
has been clinkeringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
have been clinkeringperfect progressive
-
clinkeringparticiple
-
clinkerssingular 3rd person
-
are clinkeringprogressive
-
am clinkeringprogressive 1st person singular
Past
-
had clinkeredperfect
-
was clinkeringprogressive singular
-
had been clinkeringperfect progressive
-
clinkeredparticiple
-
clinkeredsimple
-
were clinkeringprogressive plural
Future
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.
On a recent visit, workers at Conch’s sprawling clinker facility monitored the AI model as it automatically adjusted production in real time.
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
Bee was built using age-old clinker planking techniques for a co-operative of crofters from Stroma which sits between Orkney and the mainland.
From BBC • Jan. 28, 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
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.
