chink

UK: 'chink': /ˈtʃɪŋk/; 'Chink': /'tʃɪŋk/

US: /tʃɪŋk/

US: (chingk)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

chink¹ /tʃɪŋk/   n. [countable]

1. a crack:
   a chink in a wall.
2. a narrow opening:
   a chink between two buildings.

chink² /tʃɪŋk/   v. 

1. to (cause to) make a short, sharp, ringing sound, such as of glasses striking together: [no object]
   The glasses chinked together.
   [~ + object]
   They chinked their glasses together.

n. [countable]

2. a chinking sound.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

chink¹  (chingk), n. 

1. a crack, cleft, or fissure:
   a chink in a wall.
2. a narrow opening:
   a chink between two buildings.

v.t. 

3. to fill up chinks in.

• 1350–1400; Middle English; perh. chine¹ + -k suffix (see -ock)

Synonyms

• 1. breach, rent, cut.

chink²  (chingk), v.t., v.i. 

1. to make, or cause to make, a short, sharp, ringing sound, as of coins or glasses striking together.

n. 

2. a chinking sound:
   the chink of ice in a glass.
3. Slang Terms coin or ready cash.

• imitative 1565–75

Chink  (chingk), n. (sometimes l.c.) [Slang.] (disparaging and offensive).

1. Slang Terms a Chinese.

• 1900–05; earlier Chinkie apparently alteration of China, Chinese by association with chink¹ (from the stereotypical Western image of Chinese as narrow-eyed); see -ie

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

chink / tʃɪŋk/ noun

1. a small narrow opening, such as a fissure or crack
2. chink in one's armour ⇒ a small but fatal weakness

Etymology: 16th Century: perhaps variant of earlier chine, from Old English cine crack; related to Middle Dutch kene, Danish kin

ˈchinky adjective

chink / tʃɪŋk/ verb

1. to make or cause to make a light ringing sound, as by the striking of glasses or coins

noun

1. such a sound

Etymology: 16th Century: of imitative origin