▪ I. link, n.1
(lɪŋk)
Forms: 1 hlinc, 3 lynk, 5 pl. linx, 6 lynck, 6– link. See also linch.
[OE. hlinc, possibly a derivative, with k suffix, of the root hlin- to lean.]
a. Rising ground; a ridge or bank. Obs. exc. dial. b. pl. (Sc.) Comparatively level or gently undulating sandy ground near the sea-shore, covered with turf, coarse grass, etc. c. pl. The ground on which golf is played, often resembling that described in b. In mod. usage sometimes treated as a singular.
| 931 in Earle Land Charters 166 Ðonne norð ondlong ðæs hlinces. c 1000 Phœnix 25 (Gr.) Ne dene ne dalu..hlæwas ne hlincas. c 1250 Newminster Cartul. (1878) 57 In lez Lynkys apud Blythemowth. 1487 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 42 No catall sale haf pastour of gyrss apone the lynkis. 1514 Ibid. 93 That euery man compeir upoun the linx efter noun. 1545 Ibid. 221 To find fiue personis..to vaiche thair blokhouse, linkis, and havin nychtlie. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iii. 86 There were..placed..in the linkes..about two hundred horse. 1649 Bp. Guthrie Mem. (1702) 48 The Marquiss came ashoar..to the Links of Barnbugall at midnight. 1697 Dallas Stiles 595 The saids Lands..with the Castles, Towers,..Links, Cunningares, and whole remanent Pertinentis of the samine. 1728 in Burton Lives Lovat & Culloden (1847) 330 This day,..I got the better of my son at the gouf in Musselburgh links. 1769 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 7) IV. 70 Many Millions of Trees are planted in a sandy Down, or Links, as they call them here, between the House and the Sea. 1836 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provinc. Sussex, Link, a green or wooded bank, always on the side of a hill between two pieces of cultivated land. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 8 A narrow strip of links formed of sand knolls fixed by means of bent and similar plants. 1861 H. B. Farnie Fife Coast 115 The links lying at the house door, is a very famous one in the annals of golf. 1873 Burton Hist. Scot. VI. lxxii. 259 The Scots army was paraded on the links of Leith by..Leslie. 1882 Stevenson (title) The Pavilion on the Links. 1890 H. G. Hutchinson Golf xiii. 311 The links of St. Andrews..holds premier place. Ibid. 317 It is a good links. 1904 Daily Chron. 20 Aug. 9/5 On a suburban links. 1919 Wodehouse Damsel in Distress x. 122 His first act..had been to ascertain whether there was a links in the neighbourhood. 1933 H. S. Colt in M. A. F. Sutton Golf Courses 124 When..the links is stretched..an excellent test of golf is provided. 1972 R. Quirk et al. Gram. Contemp. Eng. iv. 181 The following nouns invariably end in -s: alms..innings..links (..a golf-links). |
▪ II. link, n.2
(lɪŋk)
Forms: 5 pl. lynx, 5–6 lynk(e, 5–7 linke, 6 lenk, lyncke, 6–7 linck(e, 6– link.
[a. ON. *hlenk-r (Icel. hlekk-r, OSw. lænker, mod.Sw. länk, Da. lænke):—OTeut. type *hlaŋkio-z; cogn. w. OE. hlęncan pl., armour, OHG. lancha flank, loins, bend of the body (MHG. lanke), whence MHG. gelenke (collective) flexible parts of the body, mod.G. gelenk articulation, joint, link.]
1. a. One of the series of rings or loops which form a chain. † Also, formerly, pl. chains, fetters.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 606 That no creatur Of lokis nor lynx mycht louss worth a lence. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. 2433 in Anglia IX. 476 Thinkand thairthrow to lok him in his linkis. 1505 Nottingham Rec. III. 100 Duo paria de lenks; duo paria de guyvies de ferro. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxlix. 8 To bynde their kynges in cheynes, & their nobles with lynckes of yron. 1555 Eden Decades 163 Two cheynes of golde, wherof the one conteyned viii. lynkes. a 1592 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 763 Sins follow one another like linkes in a Chaine. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 94 Nor ayre lesse Dungeon, nor strong Linkes of Iron, Can be retentiue to the strength of spirit. 1671 Milton Samson 1410, I praise thy resolution, doff these links. 179. Burns The lass that made the bed to me, Her hair was like the links o' gowd. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 17 All truths run into one another like the links of a chain. 1816 Byron Prisoner of Chillon xi, My broken chain With links unfasten'd did remain. 1879 Froude Cæsar ix. 93 The strength of a chain is no greater than the strength of its first link. |
† b. sing. A chain. Also transf. and fig. Obs.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 138/14 A linke, chaine, vinculum. 1609 Bible (Douay) Isa. v. 18 Woe unto you that draw iniquitie in cordes of vanitie, and sin as the linke of a wayne. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 244 Fasten'd to each other like a Link of Gally-slaves, by a light Chain. 1730 ― Pulteney's Answ. Walpole Wks. 1841 II. 430/2 A minister..whose whole management hath been a continued link of ignorance, blunders, and mistakes in every article. |
c. One of the divisions, each being a hundredth part, of the chain used in surveying (see chain n. 9); used as a measure of length.
In Gunter's chain of 4 poles length (the one in general use) the link is 7·92 inches. In the U.S. engineers and some surveyors use a chain of 100 links of 1 foot each.
| 1661 S. Partridge Double Scale Proportion 42 Let the breadth given be 7 chains, 50 links. 1828 Hutton Course Math. II. 80 [This] gives 555152 square links, or 5 acres, 2 roods, 8 perches. |
d. Short for sleeve-link.
| 1807 Self Instructor 120 [Bill of Parcels] Card of eight points crystal links 0l. 14s. 0d. 1895 Army & Navy Coöp. Soc. Price List, Studs, links, solitaires. |
e. to let out the links, to act with more power, to put more into something.
| 1839 Spirit of Times 6 Apr. 54/2 The horses came to the post... At this time Oscar began to let out a few additional links, and with a desperate rush parted company with Dandy, and won the heat handily. 1868 H. Woodruff Trotting Horse xxxiv. 282 Lancet..in the third heat, let out the links in such a manner that he trotted it in 2 m. 25½ s. 1880 P. H. Burnett Recoll. Old Pioneer 110 [The buffaloes] let out a few more links, and ran much faster. 1942 Dict. Amer. Eng. III. 1429/1 To let out links, to make increased exertion or effort. |
2. Something looped, or forming part of a chain-like arrangement. a. A loop; a segment of a cord, etc.; a lock of hair. In Angling, one of the segments of which a hair-line is composed. Mil. (see quot. 18021).
| c 1440 Jacob's Well 3 Be þe wyndas of þi mynde, wyth þis roop made myȝty in thre lynkes schal be turnyd vp þe bokett of þi desyre. 1496 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 12 Whan ye haue as many of the lynkys as ye suppose wol suffyse for the length of a lyne: thenne must ye knytte theym togyder wyth a water knotte or elles a duchys knotte. c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 12 Some made knottes of lynkes endes, Some the stay rope suerly byndes. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. i. 23 Sir, a new linke to the Bucket must needes bee had. a 1613 J. Dennys Secr. Angling i. xi. B 2 b, The linke that holds your Hooke to hang vpon. 1653 Walton Angler iv. 108 The line should not exceed, especially for three or four links towards the hook, I say, not exceed three or four haires. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict., Links, in the art of war, are distinct reins, or thongs of leather used by the cavalry to link their horses together, when they dismount, that they may not disperse. 1802 Daniel Rur. Sports II. 149 In the making lines, every hair in every link should be equally big, round, and even. a 1825 Twa Sisters xix. in Child Ballads I. 135/2 You'll tak three links of my yellow hair. 1880 Plain Hints Needlework 117 We learn to say a stitch in needlework, a loop or link in knitting. |
† b. Applied to the joints of the body. Obs.
| c 1530 Redforde Play Wit & Sci. (Shaks. Soc.) 8 Thes jontes, thes lynkes, Be ruffe, and halfe rustye. 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck xii. I. 278 There's the weight of a millstane on aboon the links o' my neck. Ibid. xiv. II. 21 He had as mony links an' wimples in his tail as an eel. |
c. One of the divisions of a chain of sausages or black puddings. (Chiefly pl.) Now dial. Also links of love; (dial.) link-hide, link-meat.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 306/1 Lynke, or sawcistre, hilla. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 443 Some podynges and lynkes. 1611 Cotgr., Andouille, a linke, or chitterling. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 83/1 Links, a kind of Pudding, the skin being filled with Pork Flesh..and tied up at distances. a 1791 Grose Olio (1796) 191 In Suffolk black puddings made in guts are called links. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Chimney-Sweepers, Reserving the lengthier links for the seniors. a 1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) II. 197 Link,..a sausage... We call two together a latch of links. In some other counties, a far more correct expression is used, ‘a link of sausages’. 1869 R. B. Peacock Gloss. Lonsdale 51/2 Links, black puddings. 1891 ‘H. Haliburton’ Ochil Idylls 133 An' links o' puddin's, black to see, An' yowe⁓milk kebbuck. 1895 W. Rye Gloss. E. Anglia 129 Link hides, sausage skins, the intestines of a pig prepared and stuffed... Link-meat, mince-meat. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 58 Shiny links packed with forcemeat fed his gaze. 1942 Weekly Telegraph (Sheffield) 28 Nov. 10/1 A war-time member of the naval service sends the following glossary,..links of love, sausages. 1962 Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 71 Links of love, sausages. Cf. Bags of Mystery and Mystery Torpedoes. |
d. pl. Windings of a stream; also, the ground lying along such windings. Sc.
| ? a 1700 in Nimmo Hist. Stirlingsh. (1777) 440 The lairdship of the bonny Links of Forth, Is better than an Earldom in the North. 17.. Rattling Roaring Willie i. in Scott Last Minstr. Note lxiv, In the links of Ousenam water They fand him sleeping sound. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxx, The Links of Forth shall hear the knell. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies xxxiii. Crayon Misc. (1863) 183 We wandered for some time among the links made by this winding stream. |
3. a. A connecting part, whether in material or immaterial sense; a thing (occas. a person) serving to establish or maintain a connexion; a member of a series or succession; a means of connexion or communication. missing link: see missing ppl. a.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 133 A convenient mariage..whiche should be a lincke necessary, to knit together the realme of Scotlande and England. a 1575 Gascoigne Deuise Maske, Posies Flowers liii, Whose brother had like wise your daughter tane to wife, And so by double lynkes enchaynde themselues in louers life. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 914, I feel The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh, Bone of my Bone thou art. 1712 Pope Spect. No. 408 ¶4 Man seems to be placed as the middle Link between Angels and Brutes. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §1 Being able to see no further than one link in a chain of consequences. 1803 T. Winterbottom Sierra Leone I. xii. 202 The connecting link between the homo sapiens and his supposed progenitor the oran outang. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Distant Correspondents, A pun, and its recognitory laugh, must be co-instantaneous... A moment's interval, and the link is snapped. 1836 Marryat Japhet lvi, I had severed the link between myself and my former condition. 1865 R. W. Dale Jew. Temp. xx. (1877) 229 Every link in his argument gives way. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. ix. 302 He is a connecting link between two widely different phases of thought. 1905 H. W. Nevinson Bks. & Personalities 172 Link by link from its small beginning we see the fateful chain of character wrought out. 1928 New Ventures in Broadcasting (B.B.C.) iv. 36 A link might be established with local groups. Ibid. App. B. 104 There is a very close link between the broadcasting company ‘Ravag’ and the Vienna Society for Popular Education. 1948 Internat. Road Federation London Bull. July–Dec. 9/1 When that is done the first link in the United States of Europe will have been forged. 1968 Times 19 Feb. 6/6 The contrast between most backbench speakers and the highly professional commentators who did the links was sharp. 1975 Sunday Times 23 Feb. 15/3 The major Press conference announcing the link between the kidnapping and the Dudley shooting produced..more than 700 lines of inquiry. |
b. ‘Any intermediate rod or piece transmitting motive power from one part of a machine to another’. Also = link-motion (in recent Dicts.).
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 30 And E [is] a link to couple the pin A and the crank D together, so that motion may be communicated to the shaft C. |
c. Math. (See quot. 1894.)
| 1866 Cayley in Coll. Math. Papers (1892) V. 521 The ordinary singularities of a plane curve would thus be the node, the cusp, the link, and the flex. 1874 Sylvester in Proc. Roy. Instit. VII. 182 First conceive a rhomb or diamond formed by four equal links joined to one another. 1894 Cayley in Coll. Math. Papers (1897) XIII. 506 It will be convenient to speak of the line joining the two given points as the link. |
d. Mus. (See quot.)
| 1880 Stainer Composition §108. 90 When it is desired to unite two sections by a musical progression of one or more bars,..the added portion is considered as external to the rhythmic form, and has been appropriately termed a link. |
e. A means of travel or transport established between two particular places.
| 1869 Bradshaw's Railway Manual XXI. 115 The use of the intervening link from Askerne to Knottingley..is also permanently secured. 1928 Econ. Geogr. IV. 221 A river link..occurs between Tura and Tavda... These links are characteristic of undeveloped regions. 1934 Highways & Bridges 10 July 4/1 The opening of this important section..will prove..a road link of the greatest value. 1950 Internat. Road Federation London Bull. Jan. 10/2 A ferry link will cross Cabot Strait. 1961 Assessment Highway Requirements S. Wales & Monmouthshire (British Road Federation) 19 It is advised that the link between Haverfordwest..and Milford Haven..should be widened to provide a single 3-lane carriageway. 1975 Vogue 1 Mar. 139/2 (Advt.), Air-link services via Barcelona, Genoa, Marseilles. |
f. A means of telecommunication established between two particular points.
| 1911 World's Work XVIII. 578/2 Signals had been flashed through the air from Canada to Great Britain and..the Atlantic was spanned by a new and invisible link. 1926 Encycl. Brit. III. 1047/2 The superheterodyne method..is sometimes used for the ‘wireless link’ between studio and transmitting station in place of the land-line. 1928 Daily Tel. 23 Oct. 8/3 President Coolidge, speaking over the radio-link between White House and the workshop of the great inventor, lauded Mr. Edison as the embodiment of the finest traditions of American citizenship. 1957 B.B.C. Handbk. 59 The vision signals from remote outside broadcast points are carried back to the main television network by BBC microwave or VHF radio links. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio i. 18 The links between the various centres may be landlines or radio links. 1964 J. K. S. Jowett in F. J. D. Taylor Goonhilly Project 2 A broadband link to the inland network..is used for demonstration purposes—in particular, transatlantic interchange of television programmes. 1972 Sci. Amer. Feb. 15/1 Microwaves do not bend with the curvature of the earth, so that for long links it is necessary to use repeaters that receive, amplify and retransmit the signal. |
g. [tr. Russ. zvenó.] The name of a small labour unit on a collective farm in the U.S.S.R. Hence link leader; link system, a system of organizing collective farming into links.
| 1939 L. E. Hubbard Econ. Soviet Agric. xvii. 165 Each brigade was further subdivided into a number of detachments known as svena or links, often consisting of relations or members of families living in close proximity. 1950 Times 22 Feb. 3/5 Mr. A. A. Andreev..was said to have encouraged during the past 10 years the ‘link’ system of labour, which..is less effective..than the..‘brigade’ system. The article blamed the ‘link’ system for a shortfall in grain and sugar beet deliveries. 1950 Soviet Studies I. 261 Piece-work for individuals and small groups was introduced and the work of the link came to be planned... ‘Link’, the smaller regular working group of collective farm members (averaging about ten people). Several ‘links’ make a ‘brigade’. Ibid. 290 Much benefit was derived from..consultations of link leaders. 1958 R. D. Laird Collective Farming Russ. iv. ix. 125 As a result of the link system, labor discipline amounted to a major problem. Ibid. xi. 154 The brigade leader has a much greater opportunity to effect ‘labor-discipline’ than did the link leader. 1965 Economist 18 Dec. 1283/1 The ‘links’ are a veiled compromise between the American type of large-scale farming and the Soviet collective method. |
h. In Hockey and in Association and Rugby Football = linkman2 b (c). Also attrib.
In some examples not a clearly distinguishable technical term.
| 1958 Pelmear & Morpurgo Rugby Football viii. 319 Next came the innovation of the stand-off half, thereby making two links. 1962 G. Green in B. Glanville Footballer's Compan. ii. 209 Didi, floating about mysteriously in midfield, was always the master link. 1963 Rugby World June 24/3 Which is preferable—the fly-half as a link or as a tactical general and spearhead in attack? Ibid. 25/2 Neither..is primarily in the ‘link’ category. 1966 Hockey Coaching (Hockey Assoc.) ii. 111 The half-back line is the link between the forwards and backs. 1969 B. James England v Scotland x. 233 The superiority of Baxter and Law, the Scottish midfield link players, over their English counterparts. 1970 Cape Times 28 Oct. 26/3 Finch has improved considerably since he was moved to right-back after filling the left-back and link positions. 1971 Times 15 Feb. 9/1 Rest were handicapped by Purdy, playing at link, with a hand which became increasingly painful. |
† 4. in link: in union or connexion. Obs.
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions xli. (1887) 232 Seeing the soule and bodye ioyne so freindly in lincke. |
† 5. (See quot.) Obs.—0
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Link,..Also a thin Plate of Metal to solder with. |
6. A machine for linking or joining together the loops of fabrics.
| 1892 [see linker]. |
7. attrib. and Comb., as link-belt, link-chain, link pattern; link-block Steam-engine, the block actuated by the link-motion and giving motion to a valve-stem; link buttons, a pair of buttons linked by a thread, etc.; link-lever, ‘the reversing lever of a locomotive’ (1875 Knight Dict. Mech.); link-motion, (a) Steam-engine, a valve-gear for reversing the motion of the engine, etc., consisting of two eccentrics and their rods, which give motion to a slide-valve by means of a ‘link’; (b) Geom., a linkage in which all the points describe definite curves in the same plane or in parallel planes (Cent. Dict.); link plate, a plate with the staple of a lock attached, for fastening down upon a surface; link road, a road serving to link two or more major roads or centres; link rod, (a) a rod which joins the levers on the steered stub axles of a motor vehicle; (b) each of the rods which connect pistons to wrist pins on the master rod in a radial internal-combustion engine; link-staff Surveying, = offset-staff (see offset); link-stud = 1 d; link-structure Math., a linkage or link-work; link-verb = copula 1; link-word, any part of speech performing a linking function; link-work, (a) work composed of or arranged in links; (b) see quot. 1855; (c) Geom., a system of lines, pivoted together so as to rotate about one another (for Sylvester's restricted use see quot. 1874); link-worming, protection of a rope by ‘worming’ it with chains (1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.).
| 1884 Cassell's Family Mag. Feb. 188/2 An endless *link⁓belt or chain. |
| 1876 Sci. American XXXV. 230/1 Improved *Link Block for Locomotives,..an improved adjustable link block, claimed to fit tightly in the link and to wear it equally. |
| [1834 E. W. Brayley Graphic & Hist. Illustrator 125 Linked Cloak Buttons.., of silver, and exactly alike.] 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 170 All our cuff buttons, except *link buttons, have patent lever backs. Ibid., (caption) Gold filled, engraved link buttons... $1.10. 1964 McCall's Sewing ii. 30/2 Link buttons, two flat buttons held together with several threads covered with blanket stitches. Used as cuff links. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 157 The links are then to be riveted on the pivots, each pivot receiving two of them, and thus holding the hinge together, on the principle of a *link-chain or hinge. |
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, *Link-motion, a new apparatus for reversing steam-engines. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vi. (ed. 2) 211 Starting ahead or astern is effected by link motion. 1877 [see link-structure]. 1887 J. A. Ewing in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 505/1 In Stephenson's link-motion—the earliest and still the most usual form—the link is [etc.]. |
| 1901 Scotsman 1 Mar. 5/5 A *link pattern chain. |
| 1842 J. Done Tuner's Comp. (ed. 4) 15 Lock, key, escutcheon, *link plate... The link plate is let into that part of the case corresponding with the lock. |
| 1934 Highways & Bridges 24 July 5/2 New *link road from the Bedford–Hitchin road..to the Bedford–Luton road;..a 60 ft. link road from the Bedford–Ampthill road..to the Luton road. 1948 T. Sharp Oxf. Replanned 9 The construction of the new Southern By⁓pass and the important link-road approximately along the line to Roman Way will make it even better for industrial purposes. 1961 Assessment Highway Requirements S. Wales & Monmouthshire (British Road Federation) 18 A similar problem exists on the link road between Treharris and Cardiff. 1970 Milestones Spring 35/1 A..link road from the M23 to the A23 near Gatwick airport will start from a roundabout over the motorway at Burstow. 1972 Times 26 Oct. 3/1 It was the eighth of 32 spans that make up the M4 link road bridge. |
| 1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xv. 137 The driver of the lorry..was..repeating the same words over and over again... ‘The bloomin' *link-rod dropped. I can't think 'ow it came to 'appen. Just when they was passin' me—too. The bloomin' link-rod.’ 1928 A. L. Dyke Aircraft Engine Instructor ii. 14 The master rod connects to the top or No. 1 piston. The other eight pistons are connected to the eight link rods, the other ends of which bear against bronze bushings on the knuckle pins. 1929 H. T. Rutter Mod. Motors II. ix. 333 (caption) Front axle of Daimler, showing link rod. 1946 J. W. Vale Aviation Mechanic's Engine Manual i. 16 The master rod forms a bearing on the main crankpin and the remaining link rods form a bearing on the knuckle pin arrangement of the master rod assembly. 1970 K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook ix. 108/1 Remove the cotter pins from the nuts securing the head pins of both link rod and nearside track rod. |
| 1828 Hutton Course Math. II. 59 At every chain length, lay the offset-staff, or *link-staff, down in the slope of the chain. |
| 1877 Kempe How to draw a straight line 6 When such a combination is pivoted in any way to a fixed base, the motion of points on it not being necessarily confined to fixed paths, the *link-structure is called a ‘link-work’: a ‘link-work’ in which the motion of every point is in some definite path being..termed a ‘link-motion’. |
| 1881 C. E. Turner in Macm. Mag. XLIV. 307 Two gold English *link-studs. |
| 1892 H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. I. 94 We call such verbs *link-verbs, because they serve to connect the predicate with its subject. To be is a pure link-verb, that is, a pure form-word, devoid of independent meaning. 1933 O. Jespersen Essent. Eng. Gram. (1939) xiii. 126 It..serves to connect this with the subject as what is technically termed a copula or link-verb. 1963 F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax I. iii. 191 Link-verbs like to abide..differ from the link-verb to be in that their original meaning is not entirely lost. |
| 1871 Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue (1880) §520 Under the title of *Link-word I comprise all that vague and flitting host of words..commonly called Prepositions and Conjunctions. 1892 H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. I. 95 Other link-words, while having the same grammatical function of connecting subject and predicate, have also definite meanings of their own. 1947 W. S. Allen Living Eng. Struct. 235 ‘Who’, ‘what’, ‘which’,..etc., are very important as link-words. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 200/2 The computer compiles lists of the words used, and nouns, qualifying words and ‘link’ words can be sorted out by human intervention before retrieval programs are written. |
| 1530 Tindale Ex. xxviii. 14 Thou shalt make hokes off golde and two cheynes off fine golde: *lynkeworke and wrethed. 1855 Ogilvie, Suppl., Link-work, the general term applied in mechanics to that species of gearing by which motions are transmitted by links, and not by wheels or bands. 1874 Sylvester in Proc. Roy. Instit. VII. 182 note, A link-work consists of an odd number of bars, a linkage of an even number. |
Add: [3.] i. Computing. An instruction or code which serves as a connection between two parts of a program, or between consecutive elements of a list. Cf. linked list s.v. *linked ppl. a. 2.
| 1951 M. V. Wilkes et al. Preparation of Programs for Electronic Digital Computer iii. 22 Any order may be punched on the tape for the last order of the subroutine, since it is overwritten by the link order. 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 39 Link, an instruction or address for leaving a closed subroutine on its completion in order to return to some desired point in the routine from which the subroutine was entered. 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics ii. 30 In the block of storage set aside for the list, let the first cell be a link. 1980 C. S. French Computer Sci. x. 57 Pointers may also be called links. 1991 Personal Computer World Feb. 190/3 The program includes a script link option that allows one script to call another. |
[7.] link house [cf. Sw. kedjehus], a house joined to its neighbour by only a single room, garage, or the like.
| [1967 E. Rockwell tr. H. Hoffmann (title) One-family housing. Solutions to an urban dilemma. Terrace houses. Patio houses. Linked houses.] 1968 Svensk-Engelsk Ordbok (Svenska Bokförlaget) 358/2 Kedjehus, *link house. 1976 Cumberland News 3 Dec. 37/1 (Advt.), A three bedroomed centrally heated link house with brick garage and easily manageable gardens in first class order throughout. 1977 Grimsby Even. Tel. 27 May 17/9 (Advt.), Spacious link house now being built in Hawerby Road, Laceby. |
▪ III. link, n.3
(lɪŋk)
Also 6–7 linck(e, lynck(e, linke, lynk(e.
[Of obscure origin.
The conjecture that it is a corruption of lint- in lintstock, linstock (from lunt) has little plausibility. Perhaps the likeliest hypothesis is that the word is identical with prec.; the material for torches may have been made in long strings, and divided into ‘links’ or segments. A not impossible source would be the monastic Latin linchinus (one instance in Du Cange, others in Diefenbach), an altered form (by a process common in med.L.) of lichinus, glossed ‘weke’ (wick) and ‘meche’ (match) in the 15th c. (see Wr.-Wülck.), a. Gr. λύχνος light, lamp.]
1. A torch made of tow and pitch (? sometimes of wax or tallow), formerly much in use for lighting people along the streets.
| 1526 Househ. Ord. (1790) 163 The Secretary..[to have] from the last of October unto the first day of Aprill three lynckes by the weeke. 1530 Palsgr. 239/2 Lynke, torche. 1580–1 Act 23 Eliz. c. 8 §3 Any maner of..Wares wrought with Waxe, as in Lightes Staftorches..Lynckes Greene Waxe Red Waxe or any other worke..wrought with Waxe. 1591 Fraunce Emanuell 43 in Fuller Worthies Misc. (1871) III, Lynkes gaue light to the night, and causd their swoords to be glistring. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 48. 1608 Middleton Fam. Love iii. iii, Give me my book, Club, put out thy link, and come behind us. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xviii. vi. 114 To set upon an horse backe a burning lampe,..that the Persians weening it to be a tallow linke giving light before the captaine softly marching, might take their course that way especially. 1685 Wood Life 13 Apr., Twenty-four lyncks burning on Merton Coll. Tower between 9 and 10 at night. 1706 Lond. Gaz. No. 4280/5 Whoever shall..presume to..sell any such Links not weighing 14 l. and upwards to the Dozen..will be prosecuted. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 245 Frank..without answering, dashed his link in the villain's face, and bade the chairman go on. 1813 Coleridge Remorse iv. i, Our links burn dimly. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iii, His face and figure were full in the strong glare of the link. 1852 Thackeray Esmond ii. ix, Though the links were there, the link-boys had run away. |
b. A link-boy.
| 1845 Disraeli Sybil (1863) 255 ‘I think I should like to be a link, Jim,’ said the young one. 1846 Mrs. Gore Sk. Eng. Charac. (1852) 64 Corney is sovereign of the elective monarchy of Links. |
† 2. ? The material of ‘links’ used as blacking.
Johnson suggests that in the Shakes. passage the word may mean ‘lamp-black’. The quot. from Pomet may possibly throw light on Shakespeare's use; cf. also quot. c 1600.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 137 There was no Linke to Colour Peters hat. [c 1600 ? Greene Mihil Mumchance D 2, This Cosenage is vsed like wise in selling olde Hats found vpon dunghils, in steede of new, blackt ouer with the smoake of an olde Linke.] 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. viii. §56. 212/1 They melt black Pitch, and afterwards dip a Wick of Flax, Hemp, or the like, in it, which we sell by the Name of Links [F. Bougie noire], and is us'd sometimes to black Shoes withal. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as link-extinguisher, link-light; link-burnt, link-lighted adjs.
| 1837 Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes II. 123 Give me the beggar's basket *link-burnt through. |
| 1859 Nares Gloss., *Link-extinguishers, large extinguishers attached to the railings of houses formerly used by the link men for extinguishing their links. 1899 W. Churchill R. Carvel 219 Lanthorns and link extinguishers. |
| 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. ix, We have lights, *link-lights and rushlights of an enlightened free Press. |
| 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. xix, I had been leading a romantic life for ages to a brawling, splashing, *link-lighted..world. |
▪ IV. link, v.1
(lɪŋk)
[f. link n.2 (though recorded somewhat earlier).]
1. trans. To couple or join with or as with a link (in or into a chain, in amity, etc.). (Also absol.) a. two or more things together.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. i. (Skeat) l. 42 Depe in this pinyng pitte, with wo I ligge istocked, with chaines linked of care, and of tene. ? a 1412 Lydg. Two Merchants 76 In love he lynketh them that be vertuous. c 1420 ― Thebes ii. in Chaucer's Wks. (1561) 364 b, Trouth and mercy linked in a Cheine. c 1450 Holland Howlat 365 Tharwith [sc. other armorial bearings] lynkit in a lyng,..He bure a lyon as lord, of gowlis. 1494 Fabyan Chron. 3 In as wordes fewe As I goodly may I shall lynke in fere, The storyes of Englande and Fraunce. 1530 Palsgr. 612/1 They be so faste lynked togyther by maryage that it wyll be harde to sowe a discorde bytwene them. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lii. §2 Two persons linked in amitie. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 62 Sometimes they linke three or foure together. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xi. §98 Linked together by many promises and professions, and by an entire conjunction in guilt. 1770 Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. II. 329 Whilst men are linked together, they..speedily communicate the alarm of any evil design. 1781 Cowper Retirement 398 The boy, who..Sits linking cherry-stones or platting rush. 1811 Busby Dict. Mus. s.v. Appogiature, In bold and energetic movements, a chain of appogiatures..serve to link the greater intervals. 1837 Landor Pentameron Wks. 1846 II. 318 The clapping of hands (so lately linked) hath ceased. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xv, Your fortunes and his are linked together. 1885 Gilbert Mikado i. Orig. Plays Ser. iii. (1895) 179 That all who flirted, leered or winked (Unless connubially linked) Should forthwith be beheaded. 1928 New Ventures in Broadcasting (B.B.C.) iv. 31 The aim of the B.B.C. is to link together the various national systems for the benefit of the Empire. 1935 R. C. Woodthorpe Shadow on Downs ix. 237 Men began to put up pillars of concrete and link them easily by girders of steel. 1959 Science 16 Oct. 954/3 Design effort must be directed toward ensuring that records can be linked in spite of such discrepancies. 1962 K. W. Gatland Astronautics in Sixties xi. 344 One proposed method of linking two vehicles in orbit has been outlined. |
b. one thing (in) with or (on) to another. Also occas. (without construction) = to secure with a link or chain.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. ii, So was malice linked with innocence. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 638/2 Vnto al their olde heresyes to lynke an whole chaine of newe. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. xxxviii. 125 Our chaine That lingth vs to credence: is not auctoritie. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. xvi. 287 Abraham would not linke his sonne with the wicked. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ix. 4 Yet is he lincked to a lovely lasse. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 175 They [viz. certain serpents]..lincke or claspe themselues about their necks and bodies. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 133 All this will soon Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe. 1693 G. Stepny in Dryden's Juvenal (1697) 203 Driving himself a Chariot down the Hill, And (tho a Consul) links himself the Wheel. 1799 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 268, I am not for linking ourselves by new treaties with the quarrels of Europe. 1810 Southey Kehama xvi. xii, Strong fetters link him to the rock. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg., Misadv. at Margate Moral, Don't link yourself with vulgar folks. 1845–6 Trench Huls. Lect. Ser. i. iii. 43 A Gospel which should link itself on with whatever had occupied the philosophic mind. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 104 Linked in, indeed, identified with the..swarming life of modern Rome. 1880 Mrs. Oliphant He that will not, etc. xxxviii, Bell linking herself on to his arm, and Marie holding his hand. 1962 B.B.C. Handbk. 47 All these studios outside London..can be linked into the network at short notice. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. B4 One of Mercantile's selling points, particularly to the Canadian export–import community, is that we can link into the Citibank international system. 1969 L. Jensen in J. N. Rosenau Linkage Politics v. x. 311 How a state links itself with the external environment depends upon what it believes will maximize its power. |
c. Mil. To tie (horses) together with ‘links’ (see quot. 1895). Also absol. (See also linked b.)
| 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 232 The horses..are..linked to the center under the bridle reins... All officers link at their posts in squadron. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict. s.v., The whole go to the left about together, and link. 1895 Sir E. Wood Cavalry Waterloo Campaign v. 119 Most of the riders had slept at the horses' heads with an arm passed through the reins, though in some Regiments they were ‘linked’. Note, Horses are said to be linked when the collar chains or head-ropes are passed through the links of the head-collars of the horses on either side. |
d. To pass (one's arm) through or in another's.
| 1843 Browning Return of Druses v. (init.), Come, old Nasif—link thine arm in mine. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. ii. v. 173 Anthony..linking his arm within his lordship's. 1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshm. 349 Mr. Pokyr, linking his arm through that of his friend. 1872 Browning Fifine i, O trip and skip, Elvire! Link arm in arm with me! 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 29 Nino..linked an arm in his as we went away. |
e. to link in (fig.): to entice, beguile. Now dial.
| 1592 Greene Disput. etc. 1 Hath your smooth lookes linckt in some Nouice? 1887 Kentish Gloss., Link, to entice; beguile; mislead. ‘They linked him in along with a passel o' good-for-nothin' runagates’. |
2. a. intr. To be coupled, joined, or connected (e.g. in friendship, marriage, etc.). Also followed by together.
| c 1540 J. Heywood Four P.P. B ij, Wynking to drynkinge is alwaye lynkinge. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 52 A cluster Of theyre companions they let in, thee coompanye lincketh. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 115, I were loth To linke with him, that were not lawfull chosen. a 1618 Raleigh To Son ii. in Rem. (1661) 84 Though thou canst not forbear to love, yet forbear to link. a 1680 Butler On Drunkenn. 79 Rem. 1759 I. 116 Fiercest Creatures..In Love and close Alliance link. 1735 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Link (v.),..to enter into a Cabal or Company of Robbers, Rioters, or Rebels. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 181 No one generation could link with the other. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 2 Oct. 5/1 We ought forthwith to link in with the Cape Railway system on our southern border. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 77 Those two sluts..linked together in the rain. 1962 K. W. Gatland Astronautics in Sixties xi. 341 The ability of two vehicles to match speed and link together in orbit. |
b. To go arm in arm, or hand in hand.
| 1819 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball., Carel Fair, Sae we link'd, an' we laugh'd, an' we chatter'd. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's ii, Clapping palms wi' them, and linking at their dances and daffings. 1871 C. Gibbon Lack of Gold x, Linking home arm-in-arm like douce guidman and guidwife. |
3. a. to link up, to connect, combine, join up.
| trans. 1897 Geogr. Jrnl. IX. 364 The mouth of the valley..which I visited for the purpose of linking up the rough survey Garwood and I made. 1927 E. O'Neill Marco Millions ii. ii. 45 Their necks, waists, and right ankles linked up by chains. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 2 May 11 Efforts are being made to link up other countries. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 68 The fundamental method which links up all the information obtained. |
| intr. 1915 H. G. Wells Boon 211 Every one with ideas..had to refer to that doctrinal core, had to link up to it. 1925 A. S. M. Hutchinson One Increasing Purpose i. xxiv. 147 Did I tell you that or has its connection with what you said only linked up in me since we parted? 1929 Radio Times 8 Nov. 393/3 Music lines through Belgium to the whole of Germany..are envisaged for..1930, while it may also be possible to link up to Scandinavia through Hamburg. 1974 ‘E. Lathen’ Sweet & Low xxiii. 217 The Russians and the Americans linked up in space... Every radio in New York was tuned to that docking. |
b. to link up with (used as in sense 3 a): (a) in general contexts.
| 1899 E. G. White Testimonies for Church (1904) VIII. 188 You were willing to link up with them if they would second your propositions. 1903 Studio XXVIII. 159/1 To discuss the efforts of the lesser known men who link up the painters of 1830 with those of 1870. 1912 Q. Rev. July 231 The limit is entirely a question of alighting—a problem linked up with ‘variable speed’ aeroplanes. 1915 H. G. Wells Boon 174 Here is the sort of thing that I invite the intelligent reader to link up if he can with the very natural phenomenon of [etc.]. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 385 Our grandam, which we are linked up with by successive anastomosis of navelcords. 1928 Sweet Shop Nov. 6/3 The display man..should link up his shop with the advertisement. 1930 Times 15 Mar. 19/4 Our company has always been linked up with the trade to..South America. 1957 E. Bott Family & Social Network viii. 217 Many of the individuals and groups to which an urban family is related are not linked up with one another. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iii. 78 Napkins, tea⁓cosies, etc., can be designed to link up with the tablecloth or mats. |
(b) By some means of transport or system of communication.
| 1907 Jrnl. Soc. Arts LV. 374/1 The linking up of railway stations with outlying country districts by means of mechanically propelled road vehicles. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. XII. 658/1 It is freely mooted that Berlin and Munich will also be linked-up with this system [of airships]. 1910 Ibid. XIII. 329/1 Switches linked it [sc. a monorail system] up with other lengths of line. 1934 Highways & Bridges 24 July 4/4 A new road..would be needed..to link up with the main road. 1937 Discovery May 163/2 The network of air lines which now links up the United States with Central and South America. 1961 Assessment Highway Requirements S. Wales & Monmouthshire (British Road Federation) 3 Wasting money on local improvements which will not in the end link up with an overall system. Ibid. 16 It should link up with the by⁓pass there. |
Add: [1.] f. To associate in speech, thought, writing, etc., with or to.
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick I. xl. 288 One of the wild suggestings referred to, as at last coming to be linked with the White Whale in the minds of the superstitiously inclined, was the unearthly conceit that Moby Dick was ubiquitous. 1921 J. Moffatt Approach to New Testament i. 60 In the so called Zadokite document of Jewish piety..the idea of a new covenant..began to be linked to the expectation of a Messiah. 1938 Time 28 Feb. 63/3 His saccharine cinema roles and cream-puff publicity have all too closely linked the word ‘beauty’ with the name ‘Taylor’. 1950 J. A. Mason in J. H. Steward Handbk. S. Amer. Indians VI. 265 Sacuya..is generally linked with Remo and probably is a subgroup. 1975 E. L. Doctorow Ragtime (1976) vii. 39 Her name was linked with dozens of men around town. 1993 M. Atwood Robber Bride xlvii. 370 She made a brief traverse through the gossip columns when her name was linked with that of a cabinet minister. |
▪ V. link, v.2 Sc. and north. dial.
(lɪŋk)
[Cf. Norw. linka to give a toss or bending motion with the body (Aasen), to fling, or drive backwards and forwards (Ross). Cf. also linch v.2]
intr. To move nimbly, pass quickly along; to trip. to link off: to pass away, disappear quickly.
| 1715 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. ii. xxiv, Maidenheads gaed linkin Aff a' that day. 1725 ― Gentle Sheph. i. i, I saw my Meg come linkan o'er the lee. 1785 Burns Addr. to Deil xx, Some luckless hour will send him linkin, To your black pit. 1790 ― Tam o' Shanter 150 Ilka carlin..linket at it in her sark! 1882 J. Walker Jaunt to Auld Reekie, etc. 21 The hours gaed linking by. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 68 Ha'e..this billet as fast as ye can link to the captain. |
b. causal. To cause to move or circulate rapidly.
| 1721 Ramsay To R. H. B. ii, He disna live that canna link The glass about. |
Hence ˈlinking ppl. a.
| 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxvi, A man that can whistle ye up a thousand or feifteen hundred linking lads to do his will. |
▪ VI. ‖ link, a.
(lɪŋk)
[Yiddish, f. G. link left, left-handed, clumsy.]
Not pious, not orthodox (in religion).
| 1889 Referee 3 Feb. 2/3 ‘Dolly’, who was a Jewess, but one who was link rather than froom, was about forty years old. 1892 I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto II. 90 ‘Suppose,’ she said slowly, ‘I wanted to marry a Christian?..if I was to marry a very link Jew, you'd think it almost as bad.’ 1907 ― Ghetto Comedies ii. 380 But I am so link (irreligious). |