clinkern.1
/ˈklɪŋkə/, U.S. /ˈklɪŋkər/ 1. A very hard kind of brick of a pale colour, made in Holland, and used for paving.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > types of
white brick1468
red brick1587
clinker1659
clinkerc1660
stock-brick1683
Windsor brick1702
grey stock1726
stockc1738
red stock1748
firebrick1749
Welsh lump1798
malm1811
cutting-brick1815
pecking1819
blue brick1823
malm brick1824
Windsor1841
cutter1842
grizzle1843
shuff1843
picking1850
Woolpit brick1887
Hollander1897
Staffordshire1898
Stafford brick1908
misfire1923
klompie1926
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 47 That goodly Aquæ-duct [at Amsterdam]..so curiously wharfed with Clincar'd brick (a kind of White sun-bak'd brick) & of which material the spacious streetes on either side are paved.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 33 White or yellow (twice burnt) Flanders Bricks, in Dutch called Clinkart.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 58 Clinkarts are very fit for the Paving of Stables.
1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) 63 This sort of bricks they call clinkers, and are as hard as any flint.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 187 In Holland, the streets are every-where paved with a hard kind of bricks, known by us under the name of clinkers.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. ii. 504 Dutch clinkers and Flemish bricks vary little in quality.
2.
a. A brick whose surface has become vitrified by exposure to intense heat in the kiln or clamp.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > types of
white brick1468
red brick1587
clinker1659
clinkerc1660
stock-brick1683
Windsor brick1702
grey stock1726
stockc1738
red stock1748
firebrick1749
Welsh lump1798
malm1811
cutting-brick1815
pecking1819
blue brick1823
malm brick1824
Windsor1841
cutter1842
grizzle1843
shuff1843
picking1850
Woolpit brick1887
Hollander1897
Staffordshire1898
Stafford brick1908
misfire1923
klompie1926
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > brick made in specific way
semi-brick1601
place brick1621
clinker1659
rubbed brick1663
rubber1744
marl1812
bat1816
burr1823
wire-cut brick1839
place1843
wire-cut1910
rug brick1914
texture brick1940
1659 T. Willsford Architectonice 2 Those [bricks] next the fire are best burnt, and such as have naturally much Niter, or Salt-peter in them, with the violence of heat will run, as if glaz'd over for perpetuity: these some call Clinckers.
1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) at Brick The best and most lasting are those that lie next the Fire, have a Gloss upon them, and are call'd Clinkers.
1881 Mechanic 526 Filled up with rough stones, brick bats, clinkers from the brick fields.
b. A mass of bricks fused by excessive heat, and adhering together.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > types of > mass of
clinker1842
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. ii. 504 Burrs and clinkers are such bricks as have been violently burnt, or masses of several bricks run together in the clamp or kiln.
3. A hard mass formed by the fusion of the earthy impurities of coal, lime-stone, iron ore, or the like, in a furnace or forge; a mass of slag.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials produced from metalworking > [noun] > slag or scoria > mass of
slag heap1757
clinker1772
scar1852
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [noun] > cinder > large
clinker1772
1772 Philos. Trans. 1771 (Royal Soc.) 61 70 A kind of Clinker, extracted from the ashes of sea coal.
1779 Ann. Reg. 1778 Antiquities 151/2 The cinders or clinkers produced in a lime-kiln.
1817 T. J. Pettigrew Mem. J. C. Lettsom II. 263 Like the clinkers or slag..left in the distiller's and brewer's furnaces.
1854 Chambers's Jrnl. 1 201 A kind of coal which does not produce clinkers—that is, large cinders.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Clinkers, iron slag used for mending highways.
4. A mass of hardened volcanic lava.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > igneous rock > [noun] > volcanic rocks > lava > scoria
slag1673
cinder1774
scoria1792
dross1811
clinker1850
1850 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Geol. iii. 162 Lava and scoria in immense masses, piled together in the utmost confusion. They are styled clinkers or clinker fields.
1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. 694 The hardened crust breaks up like ice on a pond, but makes black and rough cakes and blocks 100 to 10,000 cubic feet in size, which lie piled together over acres or square miles. Such masses are..called clinkers.
1880 Q. Rev. Jan. 227 The tents had been pitched among masses of clinkers.
5.
a. A scale of oxide of iron formed in forging.
b. A red powder used to polish steel.
ΚΠ
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 220 The coarsest [red stuff], known as ‘Clinker’, is used for giving a surface to steel after it is tempered.
Compounds
clinker asphalt n.
ΚΠ
1954 Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 32 Clinker asphalt, a wearing course consisting of rolled asphalt in which the principal aggregate is clinker.
clinker-bar n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1849 J. Weale Rudim. Dict. Terms Archit. i. 103/2 Clinker-bar, in steam engines, the bar fixed across the top of the ash-pit for supporting the rods used for clearing the fire-bars.
clinker concrete n.
ΚΠ
1930 Engineering 11 July 41/3 Breeze and clinker concrete.
clinker-field n.
ΚΠ
1850 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Geol. iii. 163 (note) The pahoihoi regions of Hawaii are often more extensive than the associated clinker-fields.
clinker-hill n.
ΚΠ
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Clinker-hills, high heaps of iron dross cinders.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
clinkern.2
1. He who or that which clinks.
2. spec.
Categories »
a. plural. Fetters (slang).
b. A kind of West Indian cricket: see quot.
ΚΠ
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Clinkers, the Irons Felons wear in Gaols.
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 86 The Clinker, or Gully-Bell..is of the Cricket kind, and derives its name from the tinkling noise it makes at night.
c. U.S. slang. In music, a wrong note, a discord.
ΚΠ
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §578/5 Discord,..clinker.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues 369 Listen to..Mezzrow's clinkers on the clarinet.
1956 M. W. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) xvii. 202 The individual musicians were always hitting ‘clinkers’ or wrong notes.
Compounds
clinker-bell n. dialect
ΚΠ
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Clinker-bell, an icicle.
1888 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sketches in F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. at Clinker-vells Jack Vrost an' the clinker-bells all be a-past.
Draft additions December 2003
slang (originally Baseball and chiefly U.S.). An error; a failure, a ‘dud’; esp. a film, song, etc., of poor quality. Also (occasionally): an incompetent or unsuitable person.
ΚΠ
1934 Sporting News Record Bk. 21 Clinker, error.
1952 N.Y. Herald Tribune 29 Oct. 25/1 For an actor who's committed a horrible clinker: ‘You looked great in the rushes.’
1968 Washington Daily News 8 Mar. 68/1 Washington's Bill Bryon, a catcher getting that one extra chance, was the woebegone clinker yesterday in the exhibition opener against the New York Yankees.
1977 Zigzag June 36/1 The recent ‘Certified Live’ double..seemed to sum him up, with its several excellent moments counterbalanced by a mass of ordinariness and a few real clinkers.
1983 N.Y. Times 25 Dec. xi. 16/5 Peer pressure combines with our fear of being wimpishly irrelevant to prompt most of us to include a few real clinkers in our otherwise carefully considered presents.
2003 Observer 2 Feb. (Review section) 7/3 The directorial debut of Bob Dolman, The Banger Sisters, is no better than two major clinkers he worked on as a screenwriter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
clinkern.3
1. He who or that which clinches; a clincher.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > boat-builder or shipbuilder > [noun] > in specific trade or type of work
clincher1495
ship-carpenter1495
clinger1538
clencher1559
clinker1656
converter1811
square-maker1850
ship smith1858
red leader1882
chippy chap1903
stager1927
1656 S. Holland Don Zara i. vi. 46 Whether Orlando Smith, or Oswald Clinker.
2. figurative.
a. A clenching statement, etc.; a clencher.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > [noun] > conclusive proof or argument
proving?c1225
demonstrationa1393
warranta1450
satisfaction1584
clunchfist1590
ergo1590
apodixis1646
ergotism1656
clinker1733
clincher1804
clencher1878
1733 J. Swift Life & Char. Dr. Swift 18 A Protestant's a special Clinker; It serves for Sceptick, and Free-thinker.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. Clinker, a clincher, or clencher. I gave him a clinker (i.e. a convincing argument).
b. A ‘clinking’ good thing: applied to persons, animals, and things of first-rate quality. slang (originally Sporting slang; cf. clinking adj. 2).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing
carbunclea1350
swanc1386
phoenixc1400
diamondc1440
broocha1464
surmounterc1500
sovereign?a1513
primrose peerless1523
superlative1577
transcendent1593
Arabian birda1616
crack1637
first rate1681
peach1710
phoenicle1711
admiration1717
spanker1751
first-raterc1760
no slouch of1767
nailer1806
tip-topper1822
ripper1825
ripstaver1828
apotheosis1832
clinker1836
clipper1836
bird1839
keener1839
ripsnorter1840
beater1845
firecracker1845
pumpkin1845
screamer1846
stunner1847
bottler1855
beaut1866
bobby-dazzler1866
one out of the box1867
stem-winder1875
corker1877
trimmer1878
hot stuff1884
daisy1886
jim-dandy1887
cracker1891
jim-hickey1895
peacherino1896
pippin1897
alpha plus1898
peacherine1900
pip1900
humdinger1905
bosker1906
hummer1907
good egg1914
superstar1914
the berries1918
bee's knee1923
the cat's whiskers1923
smash1923
smash hit1923
brahma1925
dilly1935
piss-cutter1935
killer1937
killer-diller1938
a hard act to follow1942
peacheroo1942
bitch1946
brammerc1950
hot shit1960
Tiffany1973
bollocks1981
1836 Spirit of Times 27 Feb. 13/2 It would just take him to beat any thing that Col. Johnson can start. He is a clinker, I tell you.
1869 Daily Tel. 5 Apr. 2/4 Despite the indifferent manner in which Vagabond cut up at the finish of the Metropolitan, quite sufficient was seen of him to prove that at a mile and a half he is a ‘clinker’.
1873 J. Wisden Cricket & how to play It (ed. 2) 43 A clinker from Wootton bothered and bowled Mr. Ottaway.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms i. vi. 81 By George! how fond I am of a good horse—a real well-bred clinker.
1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden in Maine iii. 19 That colt's a clinker an' I oughten ter let him go, but then I can't help it.
1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. ii. ii. 165 ‘She was a clinker,’ Alan regretted. ‘I don't suppose we shall ever see a girl half as pretty,’ Michael thought.
a1935 W. Holtby South Riding (1936) ii. i. 91 By God she could ride. A clinker across country.
3. A clinch-nail.
ΚΠ
1881 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Suppl. Clinker, a nail used by shoemakers for protecting the toes of heavy boots.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield Clinker, a strong nail for shoes.
4. A smart sharp blow. dialect and colloquial.In this sense and sense 5 there is probably a mixture of associations with clinker n.2, and perhaps clinker n.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > [noun] > a sharp or smart blow
dab1300
rapc1330
thresta1400
bruntc1400
knap14..
yedderc1440
gird1487
yert1509
fillip1543
yark1555
flewet1570
stingera1577
flirt1577
wherret1577
riprapc1580
spang1595
nick1651
lick1680
flip1692
yowf1711
clink1722
wherrya1726
click1773
whither1791
swata1800
yank1818
snock1825
clip1830
snop1849
clinkera1863
siserary1893
blip1894
a1863 W. M. Thackeray Mr. & Mrs. Berry i Berry..delivers a clinker on the gown-boy's jaw.
1879 in Shropshire Word-bk.
1883 W. H. Cope Gloss. Hampshire Words
1887 T. Darlington Folk-speech S. Cheshire Clinker, a smart blow, generally on the head.
5. slang. (see quot.) (?) Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Clinker, a crafty Fellow.
1725 in New Canting Dict.
1736 in Bailey (folio).
Compounds
C1.
clinker-built adj. applied to ships and boats, the external planks of which overlap each other below, and are fastened together with clinched copper nails: now practised only with small craft.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > [adjective] > built with planks overlapping
shingled1362
clincheda1547
clincher-built1769
clinker-built1769
plank-over-plank1769
clencher-built1850
clinch-built1867
lapstreaked1883
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine (1789) Clincar, a sort of flat-bottomed clinker-built pram.
1804 Hull Advertiser 21 Jan. 2/3 A boat about fourteen feet long, and six feet wide, clinker built.
1837 J. Macculloch Proofs Attrib. God III. 282 The lines on a clinker built vessel..possess a grace or beauty to which no one is insensible.
1883 St. James's Gaz. 9 Nov. These old Yorkshiremen are now nearly the only clinker-built vessels of any size left.
C2. Hence clinker is used in many combinations, sometimes becoming almost adjectival: cf. clincher n.
ΚΠ
1592 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 252 To my wiffe my clinkere lightner, with all her geare.
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding 181 The clinker arrangement was prevalent..until it was superseded by the now almost universal mode of plating.
1887 Daily News 18 Oct. 2/5 The following fixtures were arranged..the University Clinker Fours.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† clinkerv.1
Obsolete.
To cause to shrink or shrivel up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)] > contract or shrink > into wrinkles
shrenchc950
clinker1495
wizen1513
rivel1543
clinga1547
shrivel1609
warpa1616
pucker1616
plight1638
weazen1821
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xi. iii. sig. 9iv/2 The Northen wynde..makyth ye bodyes on earth rouh, And clynkeryth wyth his coldnesse & drinesse, & makyth synewes to be constreyned. [But the word might be an error for clinkery adj.1]
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
clinkerv.2
/ˈklɪŋkə/, U.S. /ˈklɪŋkər/ a. To form a clinker in burning.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [verb (intransitive)] > form a clinker
clinker1879
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. (at cited word) Coals are said to clinker when they cake firmly together in burning.
b. To remove clinkers from (a furnace).
ΚΠ
1901 Feilden's Mag. 4 439/2 The labour of stoking and clinkering the furnaces.
Derivatives
ˈclinkered adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [adjective] > relating to smoke > formed into a clinker
clinkered1866
1866 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 May 9/2 A piece of clinkered coke.
ˈclinkering n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > [noun] > furnace > other processes
reverberationa1475
hot blast1836
botting1874
hanging1878
clinkering1901
1901 Feilden's Mag. 4 437/1 Long iron bars or clinkering tools.
1901 Feilden's Mag. 4 439/1 So that no rush of cold air may take place through the flues while clinkering is going on.
1926 Spectator 29 May 901/1 At the end of the journey it was found that no clinkering had taken place.
ˈclinkerer n.
ΚΠ
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §699 Clinker man (gas works), water gas clinkerer; removes clinker and ashes from producer gas furnace with long iron bar.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
clinkerv.3
transitive. To secure or strengthen with clinkers. ˈclinkered adj. (shoes) studded with nails, ironed.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with nails > with specific type
spike1624
treenail1626
spike1700
sprig1712
brad1794
clinker1824
thumbtack1884
toe-nail1900
1824 R. Heber Jrnl. 29 June in Narr. Journey Upper Provinces India (1828) I. 128 A number of canoes..many of them..like those which I have lately seen, clinkered.
1858 E. Waugh Chirrup Young Chirrup donn'd his clinker't shoon.
1889 N.E.D. at Clinker Mod. Newspr., Rustics trampling with their clinkered boots over delicate marble slabs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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