link
1 Americannoun
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one of the rings or separate pieces of which a chain is composed.
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anything serving to connect one part or thing with another; a bond or tie.
The locket was a link with the past.
- Synonyms:
- connective, connection
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a unit in a communications system, as a radio relay station or a television booster station.
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any of a series of sausages in a chain.
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a cuff link.
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a ring, loop, or the like.
a link of hair.
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Also called hyperlink. Digital Technology.
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an object, as text or graphics, linked through hypertext to a document, another object, etc..
Click on the link below to read the full article.
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the connection between elements linked by hypertext, or the code or tag content required to make such a connection.
The website was full of broken links, typos, and images that failed to load.
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Surveying, Civil Engineering.
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(in a surveyor's chain) a unit of length equal to 7.92 inches (20.12 centimeters).
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one of 100 rods or loops of equal length forming a surveyor's or engineer's chain.
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Chemistry. bond.
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Machinery. a rigid, movable piece or rod, connected with other parts by means of pivots or the like, for the purpose of transmitting motion.
verb (used with or without object)
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links,
present (3rd person singular)
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linked,
past participle, past
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linking
present participle
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to join by or as if by a link or links; connect (often followed byup ).
The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.
The company will soon link up with a hotel chain.
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Digital Technology. to create digital connections between web pages or between elements on web pages using hypertext, or to have such links on or to a web page or electronic document.
The page is linked to my online store.
The essay links to three of my published articles.
noun
noun
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any of the separate rings, loops, or pieces that connect or make up a chain
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something that resembles such a ring, loop, or piece
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a road, rail, air, or sea connection, as between two main routes
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a connecting part or episode
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a connecting piece in a mechanism, often having pivoted ends
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Also called: radio link. a system of transmitters and receivers that connect two locations by means of radio and television signals
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a unit of length equal to one hundredth of a chain. 1 link of a Gunter's chain is equal to 7.92 inches, and of an engineer's chain to 1 foot
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computing short for hyperlink
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an unreliable person or thing within an organization or system
verb
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(often foll by up) to connect or be connected with or as if with links
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(tr) to connect by association, etc
noun
Synonym Usage
See bond 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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linksimple
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linkssimple
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have linkedperfect
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has linkedperfect
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am linkingprogressive
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are linkingprogressive
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is linkingprogressive
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have been linkingperfect progressive
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has been linkingperfect progressive
Past
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linkedsimple
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had linkedperfect
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was linkingprogressive
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were linkingprogressive
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had been linkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of link1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English link(e), of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Swedish lænker “chain”; cognate with Old Norse hlekkr “link” (plural, “chain”), from hlenkr (unattested); related to Old English hlence “coat of chain mail,” akin to German Gelenk “joint, link”
Origin of link2
First recorded in 1520–30; perhaps special use of link 1; the torches so called may have been made of strands twisted together in chainlike form
Explanation
Before it was the universal word for traveling around the Internet, link was just a connection or a device that connects things, like the links in a chain. Much of what humans do in their day-to-day life involves looking for links — or relationships between people and things. When there is a link, that means two things are connected — such as "the link between smoking and lung cancer." Some people even create links, like butchers who make sausage links and website developers who hyperlink the sites you visit to ensure that you spend far too much time clicking around the Web.
Vocabulary lists containing link
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Chapter 1: The First Americans
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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:
Police have not found any link between this case and the discovery of the other bodies.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Both packaging and online product detail pages are permitted to provide an outbound link to a dedicated webpage on the manufacturer’s website to display the full list of ingredients.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
In a landmark 2020 study, Hablitz, Nedergaard, and colleagues demonstrated that glymphatic function follows daily cycles even independently of sleep, establishing a direct link between circadian biology and the brain's waste-clearing system.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
"Preliminary investigations have not established any link between this incident and the recent cases involving the bodies of women found in Ekurhuleni," they said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
It was a scientific force that needed study, “another link in the great chain of nature’s law.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The pipeline has around 7 million barrels a day of crude capacity, including roughly 2 million barrels a day serving refineries, and links eastern oil facilities with Yanbu.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Urolithin A has attracted growing interest in recent years because of its links to healthy aging and mitochondrial function, a process in the body which generates energy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
The court has also been thrown into disarray as investigations have scrutinized links between several justices, their relatives or associates, and jailed, fraud-accused banker Daniel Vorcaro.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Drones with autonomous functions reduce their dependence on communications links and can continue despite jamming and other forms of electronic warfare.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
You might also notice that each keystroke changes exactly what those links are.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Ozone pollution is linked to 60,000 premature deaths per year in Europe, Ian Marnane, an official at the European Environment Agency, told a media briefing.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
It provided employment for more than half a million people, and every 13th job in Ukraine was linked to the industry one way or another.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Those include wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran in July and others used by a network that allegedly helped facilitate Iranian oil sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
She then tested them against several pathogens linked to human disease, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
The fact that his suffering has been far less extreme, and has not been linked to a belief in his inherent inferiority, has not made his suffering less real.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
El Niño is a complicated event, and linking individual weather events to broader climate patterns can be tricky.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
The new research focused on the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the two-way communication system linking microorganisms in the digestive tract with the brain.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
The group took control of a swathe of territory overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait – a crucial shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
It took only a few days for a Hawaii journalist to discover Kao’s wife’s name on the society’s paperwork, linking the shell company to Navatek.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Incidentally, another piece of tubing in the body, the Eustachian tube linking the middle ear to the pharynx, was also described around this time, by Bartolomeo Eustachio.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
