Tonkin

Also Tong·king

[ton-kin, tong-]

noun

1. a former state in northern French Indochina, now part of Vietnam.

2. Gulf of Tonkin, an arm of the South China Sea, west of Hainan. 300 miles (485 km) long.

Tonkin

/ ˈtɒŋˈkɪŋ, ˈtɒnˈkɪn /

noun

1. a former state of N French Indochina (1883–1946), on the Gulf of Tonkin: forms the largest part of N Vietnam

2. an arm of the South China Sea, bordered by N Vietnam, the Leizhou Peninsula of SW China, and Hainan Island. Length: about 500 km (300 miles)

Example Sentences

To do so, they used two isolated incidents of North Vietnamese patrol boats attacking a naval destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin.

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They manipulated intelligence that was just as thin as the Gulf of Tonkin incident to fashion a pretext for war, and after a lengthy, vociferous debate, the administration managed to get Congress to authorize the use of force.

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It reminded me of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s manufactured Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964 that Congress passed, enabling him to vastly escalate U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

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"We were on tenterhooks in the sale room, it just kept going and going, it was wonderful, truly wonderful," said Jennifer Tonkin of auctioneers Bonhams.

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But the rich history, combined with the Cartier name and its rare and unique design, appeared to make the piece an irresistible prize for collectors, said Ms Tonkin.

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