Tonkin

American  

[ton-kin, tong-] / ˈtɒnˈkɪn, ˈtɒŋ- /

Also Tongking

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.

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Tonkin British  

/ 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)

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Example Sentences

LBJ used the Tonkin Gulf resolution, which Congress overwhelmingly supported, to widen the war in Vietnam.

From The Wall Street Journal

The two senators who voted against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.

From Slate

The paucity of hard evidence about the end of Marlowe’s life requires the author to engage in speculation about the murder and more, but our reviewer, Boyd Tonkin, observed that “no one can speculate with greater authority than Mr. Greenblatt.”

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Salon

"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.

From BBC