as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
I once spent a night in the clink, and it's an experience I don't want to repeat
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clink
Alexa Liacko, CBS News, 23 Nov. 2025
Behind the glass doors of an unassuming building in Manhattan, staring across a shuttered print shop, a shadowy world stirred, coming alive with the flick of cards, the muted clink of glasses and the quiet hum of a dangerous secret.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 8 May 2026
The synthesizer riff starts to clink.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clink
Noun
At Stitch Club Atlanta's monthly gatherings, and weekly stitch nights at local needlepoint stores, needles click, glasses clink and conversations flow as dozens of women — and even a few pets — settle in for an evening of stitching, snacks and connection.
—Alexa Liacko, CBS News, 23 Nov. 2025
Behind the glass doors of an unassuming building in Manhattan, staring across a shuttered print shop, a shadowy world stirred, coming alive with the flick of cards, the muted clink of glasses and the quiet hum of a dangerous secret.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
Verb
The pleasantly buzzy ballroom, cast in semi-dimmed lighting, filled with excited chatter and clinking silverware, felt like a slightly unwieldy wedding reception.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 8 May 2026
The synthesizer riff starts to clink.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clink
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clink
Noun
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She is being held on $500,000 bond, according to jail records reviewed by PEOPLE on May 30.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
31 May 2026
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On Friday, a judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail, followed by 22 months of probation.—
Nick Lentz,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
Verb
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The Household Cavalry, on dark horses and with brightly shining breastplates, trotted past, jingling like a cutlery drawer.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
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The hiker then begins jingling bells in the bear's face in an attempt to scare it off, but the bear charges forward.—
Christopher Edwards,
PEOPLE,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Ali wakes up in the morning to find Rue in the living room, learning from the news that Fez broke out of prison and vowing to get him.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
1 June 2026
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Erasures from his the poet’s journals narrate the speaker’s visit to his father in prison through the pinhole of what’s left of memory.—
Craig Morgan Teicher,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
Verb
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The bell tinkled, but this time the shelves were empty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
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Furthermore, Sharpe spent six months learning how to tinkle the ivories, an impressive commitment which pays off during the pivotal piano battles and ensures a welcome absence of clumsy cutaways from fingers to face.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
8 May 2026
Noun
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The judge also said that attempted criminal homicide carries a possible sentence of 15 to 60 years in a Tennessee state penitentiary, the outlets reported.—
Luke Chinman,
PEOPLE,
18 May 2026
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In the early 1970s, the penitentiary remained poorly funded, and prison officials hoped to make money on the rodeo.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 May 2026
Verb
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The only other artist who has seen double-digit compositions fail to lead the Billboard Hot 100 by a single rung is Taylor Swift, who has landed in the runner-up rung 10 times.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
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However, his family had been worried that Omar, 17, would never get to ring the bell just a few months earlier.—
Lexi Lane,
PEOPLE,
31 May 2026
Verb
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One of our challenges was thinking up a good chinking method that wouldn’t take an entire month.—
Tasha Zemke,
Outside Online,
24 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Surveillance video captured the moments before the crash that has rattled many people in Passyunk Square.—
Dan Snyder,
CBS News,
2 June 2026
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The crackdown on more than 20 nursing schools in South Florida rattled the healthcare industry both here and across the country as agents with the FBI and Health and Human Services alerted state licensing boards about the nurses who illicitly obtained their credentials.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clink.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clink. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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