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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLINK, Klink, n.¹ and v.¹ Fig. uses of Eng. clink, (to make) a sharp, metallic sound. Cf. Clank. [klɪŋk]

I. n.

1. Money, cash. Dim. clinkie. Occas. in pl. = coins. Gen.Sc. By metonymy, the price from the sound of money being paid.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 17:
When in our Poutch we fand some Clinks.Sc. 1726 Ramsay T.-T. Misc. (1874) I. 132: 
Better to marry than miscarry; For shame and skaith's the clink o't.Ags. 1897 A. Wilson in A. Reid Bards of Angus and The Mearns 505:
Tho' my person is forty, my spirit's eighteen, So I think I've a chance wi' the clinkie, O.Ayr. 1788 Burns O Tibbie (Cent. ed.) iii.:
I doubt na, lass, but ye may think, Because ye hae the name o' clink, That ye can please me at a wink.

Phr. no the clean clink, not the genuine article, the 'clean potato' (Ork. 1975).

2. A blow. (The noise of the action transferred to the action itself.) Gen.Sc.Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Orcad. Sk. Bk. 9:
Than Paetie Linklid gae baith o' them a clink under the haffit.Bnff. 1882 W. M. Philip K. MacIntosh's Scholars ii.:
“Is his lordship's son sair hurt?” “Just a clink on the mou — they mak' sic a steer fan onything befa's big folk.”Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 68:
There were dauds and clinks and a fouth of flyting and randy talk gaun.Dmf. 1925 W. A. Scott in Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 21:
Gie't a clink wi' a hammer.

3. “A sudden fall” (Cai.¹ c.1920; Abd.²² 1937).Nai. 1828 W. Gordon Poems 27:
Until the stoup made chairs to coup, And some they got a sair clink.

4. In phr. in a clink, in a flash, in a moment (Bnff.², Ags.¹1937); given in E.D.D. as common in s.Sc.Ags. 1891 (2nd ed.) J. M. Barrie Little Minister ix.:
They had her safe in the town-house, and baith shirra and captain guarding her, and syne in a clink she wasna there.Per. 1898 E.D.D.:
I'll do it in a clink.

5. “A woman who acts the part of a talebearer” (Lnk. 1825 Jam.²).Arg.¹1937:
The wumman's naethin' but a claaty clink for aa her fine weys an' claes.

II. v.

1. To strike smartly, to slap; to beat (Abd.²², Fif.¹1937). Vbl.n. clinkin', a thrashing.Ork. 1929 Marw.:
I'll klink thee lugs for thee.Lnk. 1881 A. Wardrop J. Mathison's Courtship, etc. 110:
For the sake o' England's name, They deserve a proper clinkin'.Dmf. 1841 S. Hawkins Poems and Songs V. 26:
The auld gudeman does clink me sore.

2. To do anything quickly, suddenly; (1) with doun, down: (a) intr., to flop down, sit or fall down suddenly (Bnff.², Ags.², Slg.³ 1937); (b) tr., to dump (down) (fig.) (Bnff.² 1937); also used with refl. = to seat (oneself) down, see Fire, I. 7. (20); to write down quickly; cf. Clank, v. (3); (2) with up or awa: to seize suddenly, snatch up (Fif.¹ 1937); †(3) with on: to clap on.(1) (a) Edb. 1872 J. Smith Jenny Blair's Maunderings (1881) 56:
Gutters, pounds, an' lochs are bearin'; Auld folk clinkin' doun on slides.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) III. 177:
She sat on the sofa, and down clinked I beside her.(b) Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xli.:
And to lose her twa sons, as I was saying, and to hae dragoons clinked down on her for a month bypast.Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary (1818) xxxviii.:
Ane o' the clerks . . . will clink down, in black and white, as muckle as wad hang a man.(2) Sc. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reg. Dalton I. 242:
A canny chiel of a hussar clinkit up Ellen behint him before we could say Jack Robinson, and I spurred my beast, and in we plunged.Sc. a.1856 G. Outram Lyrics (1874) 107:
The last time I was sober, one morning in October, I forgathered wi' a robber wha clinked my cash awa.(3) Sc. 1718 Ramsay Chr. Kirk iii. xii. in Poems (1721):
A Creel bout fow of muckle Stains They clinked on his Back.

3. (1) tr., “to propagate scandal” (Upper Lnk. 1825 Jam.²), to noise abroad; (2) intr., of news: to spread (Fif.¹1937).(1) Abd. 1904 W. A. G. Farquhar Fyvie Lintie 132:
But this I learned frae Tammie Tawse, Ye'll pardon me for clinkin't — A dominie may be an ass Though unco laith in thinkin't.(2) Edb. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick v.:
I kent fine by the looks they gied me that they had a' gotten the news, an' it wasna lang, as ye may weel believe, afore it gaed clinkin through the pairish.

4. “To walk or move quickly” (Mry.¹ 1925; Abd.², Fif.¹1937); fig. with aff: to die.Sc. 1858 (2nd ed.) E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. (1861) i. 76:
The furniture was a' to be roupit and we couldna persuade her. But before the sale cam on, in God's gude providence, she just clinkit aff hersel.Per. a.1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1877) 26:
He maun steek his gab when clinkin' ben At e'enin' comes the Dominie.Slg. 1935 W. D. Cocker Further Poems 55:
The deil cam' clinkin' doon the glen To fash an' daunton the sons o' men.