rink

American  

[ringk] / rɪŋk /

noun

1. a smooth expanse of ice for ice-skating, often artificially prepared and inside a building or arena.

2. a smooth floor, usually of wood, for roller-skating.

3. a building or enclosure for ice-skating or roller-skating; skating arena.

4. an area of ice marked off for the game of curling.

5. a section of a bowling green where a match can be played.

6. a set of players on one side in a lawn-bowling or curling match.

---

rink British  

/ rɪŋk /

noun

1. an expanse of ice for skating on, esp one that is artificially prepared and under cover

2. an area for roller skating on

3. a building or enclosure for ice skating or roller skating

4. bowls a strip of the green, usually about 5–7 metres wide, on which a game is played

5. curling the strip of ice on which the game is played, usually 41 by 4 metres

6. (in bowls and curling) the players on one side in a game

---

Etymology

Origin of rink

1325–75; Middle English ( Scots ) renk area for a battle, joust, or race, apparently < Middle French renc rank ¹

Explanation

Use the noun rink for an indoor area where you can ice skate or roller skate, or for the surface itself. If skating around and around to blasting music is your thing, head to a rink. An ice rink has an ice-covered surface, benches for changing from shoes to skates, and often places to buy snacks. Roller rinks have skates for rent, a hard surface to skate on, and loud music. Rink first appeared in English in the 14th century, from the Scottish dialect. Though it comes from the Old French renc, "line or row," it was mixed up with ring at some point and came to describe the ring-shaped ice rink.

Example Sentences

Only this time, that ice wasn’t in Madison Square Garden, but at a community rink in Stamford, Conn. The fearsome defenders across from him were all of 12 years old.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

It’s ironic because my wife, her dream trip is to go to Iceland the country, and the closest we’re getting to that right now is an ice-skating rink.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026

Eventually we learned I had an immune condition; I also had mono, which felt cosmically unfair considering I had not yet been kissed and suspected I’d contracted it from the skating rink water fountain.

From Salon • Mar. 31, 2026

By 1953 one theater that was showing “Mr. Scoutmaster,” starring Clifton Webb, even featured an ice-skating show on its custom-built rink.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

The rink was a large, open room with a hard wooden floor.

From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine

Related Words

• course
• court
• golf course
• green
• park
• range
• stadium
• terrain
• track
• turf