Home UK English plink

Meaning of plink in English:

plink

Pronunciation /plɪŋk/

verb

[no object]

  • 1Emit a short, sharp, metallic or ringing sound.

    ‘the sounds echoed and plinked like bells’
    • ‘This is soft sand and palm-trees music, to enjoy with somebody passing you a cocktail with little ice fragments plinking away in time to the song.’
    • ‘I've been plinking away on these machines for years.’
    • ‘The music be - bobs lightly in the background, plinking and plonking past gin joints, stepping hesitantly round every dark corner.’
    • ‘There were no glasses plinking and backs being slapped on Fir Park Street last Thursday.’
    • ‘The music plinks along like a drunken gamelan, and random flecks of percussion, which include solitary hand claps, throw the listener even further off kilter.’
    • ‘She plinks away with butterfly amino for practice and rifle familiarity with full-throttle fodder for big game only.’
    • ‘Stones plinked out of the frozen face and rolled musically onto the moraine.’
    • ‘My mom wound it up every night and it plinked its way though the melody until I fell asleep.’
    • ‘Then they'd slowly walk along the fence, daring to trail their fingers over the bars, making an eerie, plinking song.’
    • ‘He cursed when he felt the cool rain plink at his ironed white shirt.’
    1. 1.1Play a musical instrument in such a way as to produce short, sharp, ringing sounds.
      ‘a daughter dutifully plinks through her piano lesson’
      • ‘We tend to sing melodies into his ears, or plink away on the piano, and he can help us realize it and embellish it.’
      • ‘They walked in, picked up their instruments and Nick started plinking and plunking at the piano.’
      • ‘As he plinks the piano, he doesn't know, the poor schmo, that something else is having that idea.’
      • ‘Yet I'm totally fascinated by this woman's beguiling blend of baby-voiced vocals, fantastic/poetic wordplay, and off-kilter harp strumming and piano plinking.’
      • ‘You've all heard it somewhere, most likely as the plinking piano in the background of some silent movie.’
      • ‘But the plinking piano never quite surrenders to the metal assault.’
      • ‘You'll be too busy sighing over the plinking piano and Parker's croon to notice the anxiety of the combination.’
      • ‘Meanwhile, a lone plinking piano note keeps pace alongside Parker's snapping percussion.’
      • ‘Smiling, the child started to plink the tune away, in a light, merry, happy-go-lucky way.’
    2. 1.2North American with object Shoot at (a target) casually.
      ‘we enjoyed idyllic family afternoons plinking cans with a revolver’
      • ‘Hall divides the handguns he sells into several basic categories: defense guns, fun guns for target shooting and plinking, competition guns, hunting guns and cowboy action guns.’
      • ‘Informal target shooting, plinking if you will, is made more enjoyable with a fine firearm as surely as is serious competition.’
      • ‘Whether they like to target shoot, plink or hunt small game, this gun just feels right.’
      • ‘An excellent option for both hunting and plinking purposes is to mount a high quality handgun scope on your pistol.’
      • ‘All we want is plinking ammo and it makes absolutely no difference how long it takes to get there.’
      • ‘It doesn't help matters that they will sometimes get outright stuck on some feature of the landscape, leaving you free to plink the enemy to death at your leisure.’
      • ‘My homemade bullets were just fine for plinking or targets at 25 yards or less, but when the range was 50 yards, there were sometimes unexplained flyers.’
      • ‘These loads are intended for indoor target practice, plinking, or putting an end to annoying pests without disturbing the neighbors.’
      • ‘We would spend the day there, wandering around, kicking up wildlife, plinking at invented targets.’
      • ‘Remind your customers that many great outdoor locations are ideal for plinking and shooting airguns.’

noun

  • A short, sharp, metallic or ringing sound.

    ‘there was a plink, the sound of an aluminium bat hitting the ball’
    • ‘Depending on which band you are listening to, pan music can be raucous and noisy, a riotous volley of plinks, clangs and bongs, or it can be like notes on velvet.’
    • ‘She poured cereal into a bowl and watched as the small sugary puffs of chemicals made a plink sound on the blue ceramic.’
    • ‘Their sound - flanged acoustic guitars, jazz-funk piano plinks, rippling clicks - is so clean you could eat off it.’
    • ‘As those synths slide out of range, a cranky whiplash beat briefly takes center stage before relenting to blue-lit micro-beats and gurgling plinks.’
    • ‘The camera, held by their neighbour Mr. Jeffries, as he recalled, signalled its mission accomplished with a gentle plink of the IR bulb.’
    • ‘He walked into the dining room, and found her setting the table, tears falling with a plink onto the tin dishes.’
    • ‘Opening with ever-so-faint-string plucks and piano plinks, the piece evokes scattered rain and slow melt.’
    • ‘Occasionally, one breaks the surface and shimmers brilliantly in the light - a brief squeal of stirring music accompanied by swift, subtle piano plinks.’
    • ‘It makes a sad little plink noise and falls to the ground.’
    • ‘Outside his instrument shop a guy was pretending to play a cardboard banjo, with drawn on strings, sitting there going ‘plink plink plink plonk’ endlessly.’

Origin

1940s imitative.