English Dictionary

Definition of “clinker”

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clinker (ˈklɪŋkəPronunciation for clinker) 

Definitions

noun

  1. the ash and partially fused residues from a coal-fired furnace or fire
  2.  Also called clinker bricka hard brick used as a paving stone
  3. a partially vitrified brick or mass of brick
  4. slang mainly US something of poor quality, such as a film
  5. US Canadian slang a mistake or fault, esp a wrong note in music

verb

  1. (intr) to form clinker during burning

Word Origin

C17: from Dutch klinker  a type of brick, from obsolete klinckaerd,  literally: something that clinks (referring to the sound produced when one was struck), from klinken to clinkC17: from Dutch a type of brick, from obsolete literally: something that clinks (referring to the sound produced when one was struck), from to 1

Usage examples

  • He brought the car to a halt on a patch of clinker near the bank where the rear of a red Audi protruded from a shed.
    Forsythe, Malcolm, The Book Lady (1993)
  • In cement, for instance, virtually every player worth its clinker is expanding.
    Business Today (2001)
  • They are the most dominant sides in the competition and have been since 2002. It should be a clinker.
    The Australian (2004)
  • The gift at the crib is poisoned; the three wishes are catastrophic, the fairy gold turns to clinker.
    Times, Sunday Times (2004)
  • Nobody could pretend that a huge slope of clinker is aesthetically pleasing.
    Richard Fortey, THE EARTH: An Intimate History (2004)

Commonness

All English words that begin with 'C'

Related Terms

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