▪ I. † rink, n.1 Obs.
Forms: α. 1 rinc, 3–6 rink, 4–6 rynk(e, 6 rinck(e, rynck. β. 4–6 renk(e, 4 renkke, reynke.
[OE. rinc, = OS. rink, ON. rekkr: the stem is app. an ablaut-variant to that of rank a.]
A man, esp. a fighting man, a warrior. (Only poet.)
| α Beowulf 399 Aras þa se rica, ymb hine rinc maniᵹ. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1114 Fore eaᵹna ᵹesyhð, rinnan fore rincum. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxii. 45 Þeah hine rinca hwilc..æfter friᵹne. c 1205 Lay. 5188 Bordes þer scænden, redde blod scede, rinkas feollen. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1193 What rink so he rauȝt he ros neuer after. Ibid. 1213 Þan ride togedere a gret route of rinkes ful nobul. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13629 My ryght I renonse to þat rynk sone. 1515 Scottish Field 417 in Chetham Misc. (1856) II, Every ryncke to his reste Full radlie him dressed. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 7 With mony rynk that ryall wes and ryke, In plane battell. |
| β 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 766 Þenne arest þe renk & raȝt no fyrre. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 134 Whon Resun to þis Reynkes Rehersede þeose wordes. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 198 Þo ros vp with rancour þe renkes reneyed. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 11 Renkis of grete renovne, Cumly kingis with crovne. 1557 N. Grimalde in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 122 Meleager..ran vpon the sayd Egyptian renk; And cut him in both kneez. |
▪ II. rink, n.2 (
rɪŋk)
Also 4–6 (9)
renk; 6
rynk.
[App. a. OF. renc row, rank, renk n.1, with slight change of meaning. Until the latter part of the 19th cent. only in Sc. use.] † 1. a. The space of ground within which a combat, joust, or race takes place; a course marked out for riding or running in. Freq. in
phr. rink's end.
In later use chiefly
fig., and passing into 1 c.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 365 Knychtis..swa fell strakys gave and tuk, That all the renk about thaim quouk. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 809 In the rowme of ane renk in fewtir kest he. Ibid. 834 The riche restles men out of the renk past. 1513 Douglas æneis v. vi. 71 Be this thai wan neir to the renkis end, Irkit sum deil befoir the mark weil kend. 1550 Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 520 He..bowtit fordwart, with ane bend, And ran on to the Rinkis end. 1591 R. Bruce Serm. (1863) 382 To run out the rink that the Lord has set before him. 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall Ded., The Lord giue your Lordship continuall convoy to your rinks end. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1664) i. xxiv. 57 Possibly they see little more of it, or nothing at all, till they win to the rinks-end. |
| attrib. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 455 At the rynk end..With speir in hand bydand the heraldis cry. 1550 Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 505 That round, rinkroume wes at vtterance. [1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 137 The heralds had the rink-room metit.] |
† b. The course or way on which one is going.
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 549 Bot gif thow raik out of my renk, full raith sall thow rew. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. xii. 86 Buskis wythdrawis..To reyd thair renk, and rovmis thaim the way. |
† c. A spell of running; a run or course; the act of running.
Obs.| c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab. 2425 The feind..Actand ilk man to rin vnrichtious rinkis. 1513 Douglas æneis x. vii. 142 Towart quham Pallas bownyt hes ful sone, And in hys renk on this wys maid hys boyne. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. x. (S.T.S.) I. 59 Ouresett with bleding of his woundis and fast rink. 1536 ― Cron. Scot. iii. iv. (1821) I. 80 The Romanis ar..swift of rink. 1591 R. Bruce Serm. (1843) 385 So much the nearer we draw to it, let us mend our renk. [1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 144 But sae it happen'd that nae scaith That renk wrocht.] |
† d. A course in a joust or tournament.
Obs.| c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 910 Twa rynnyng renkis raith the riolys has tane, Ilk freik to his feir, to frestin his fa. 1513 Douglas æneis v. x. 91 Thir maneir of renkeis and juperteis of batale Ascanyus hantit. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. xvi. x, In the thrid rynk lord wellis wes doung out of y⊇ sadyll. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 46 Trumpettis and schalmis w{supt} a schowt Playid or the rink began. |
2. a. A stretch of ice measured off or marked out for the game of curling.
| 1787 Burns Tam Samson's Elegy v, To guard, or draw, or wick a bore, Or up the rink like Jehu roar. 1790 A. Wilson Rabby's Mistake Poet. Wks. (1846) 101 Far aff the curler's roaring rink, Re-echoed loud, wi' noisy clink. 1820 Blackw. Mag. VI. 569 What has been..justly said of a more serious predicament, is exhibited literally on a Rink. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 511 A line..is drawn across the rink at each end, at a distance from the tee equal to one⁓sixth of the rink. 1895 Times 30 Jan. 6/2 Ninety rinks were laid out on the ice.., and they were occupied by 545 players. |
b. One of the sets of players into which the sides in a curling or quoiting match are divided.
| 1823 in Jamieson s.v., The long pending match at quoits..took place, 24 on each side, forming 12 rinks. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 713/1 Matches..with numerous competitors formed into rinks of four players a side, two stones being used by each player. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 35/5 Webb, whose rink is composed of Jean Dye, Bill and Helen Ferguson, scored 39 points for its three wins. 1976 S. Wales Echo 26 Nov., The only Merthyr rink which returned a winning card was that skipped by Noel Tippett. |
3. a. A sheet of ice for skating, especially one artificially prepared and roofed in; also, a smooth floor, usually of asphalt or wood, for roller-skating.
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Rink, a space of ice devoted to certain recreations, as a skating or a curling rink. c 1879 Stevenson Ess. Trav., Alpine Diversions (1905) 219 Of skating little need be said; in so snowy a climate the rinks must be intelligently managed. 1890 Dilke Probl. Greater Brit. I. 123 Rink skating is a fine art in Canada. |
| transf. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 131 The roads being rinks of the smoothest and most unbroken description. |
b. A spell of roller-skating.
| 1875 S. G. Thomas in Burnie Mem. (1890) 48, I recreated myself..by a rink yesterday. I found the wheels more popular than ever. |
c. N. Amer. A frozen surface on which ice hockey is played. Also, a hall or stadium containing this.
| 1896 Times (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) 27 Feb. 1/4 The Niagaras..know just how to toss the puck around from one end of the rink to the other in order to score. 1945 W. H. Pugsley Saints, Sinners & Ordinary Seamen 90 In the early months of the war..ratings lived in a converted hockey rink. 1953 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. XLVI 138/2 The children maintain their own open air hockey rink on the ice. 1974 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 26 Oct. 5-d/1 The Elysium had been a little rink which could accommodate almost 2,000. |
4. A measured strip of bowling-green on which a match is played. Also, the players allotted to a rink.
| 1864 W. W. Mitchell Man. Bowl-Playing 21 When..any number of players, not exceeding eight, form sides and commence a game, they make what is called a rink. Ibid., The space or division of the Green is also commonly called a rink. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 129/2 Rink, (1) a narrow section of a bowling-green, some twenty feet in breadth taken by one party for their game. (2) All the players upon the two sides. (Both terms are more common in Scotland than England.) 1906 Canadian Mag. Sept. 475/2 Like curling.., [bowling] permits of an adjournment occasionally in order that.. the opposing rinks may ‘join’ each other and have ‘something’. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 94/2 The green is divided by boundaries of fine string into six ‘rinks’ the length of the green and 19 to 21 ft. (5.8–6.4 m.) wide. 1976 Laws of Game (Eng. Bowling Assoc.) (ed. 3) 4 The green shall be divided into spaces called rinks, each not more than 19 feet nor less than 18 feet wide. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
rink boot,
rink-side;
rink rat N. Amer., a youth who seeks casual work at an ice-hockey rink in return for free admission, etc. (see also
quot. 1945);
rink string, a length of string which marks the boundary of a rink on a bowling-green.
| c 1885 in M. Johnson Amer. Advertising (1960), Childs's Cash Shoe Store. ‘Ladies' rink boots’ a specialty. |
| 1945 L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 31 Rink rat, skating rink enthusiast. 1965 Victoria (B.C.) Daily Times 20 July 10/6, I was a rink rat at the Forum. 1970 J. H. Gray Boy from Winnipeg 51 Two Fort Rouge schoolboys from the Kennedy rink rats eventually made good as professionals. |
| 1916 A. Bridle Sons of Canada 26 The genial boss..sits in his fur-lined greatcoat at the rinkside. 1972 ‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) ii. 17 He was at rinkside. On the ice, the New York Huskies were having a workout. |
| 1960 R. Williams Border Country iv. 113 Harry went up to the bowling green to..set out the rink-strings and the mats. |
Hence
rink v. intr., to skate on a rink; also
trans. (in
quot. fig.).
| 1877 H. Sidgwick in A. & E. M. Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (1907) v. 326, I ‘rinked’ or ‘runk’ (I do not know how the verb is conjugated)... It is not half as amusing as real skating. 1896 N. Newnham-Davis Three Men & a God 143 You have rinked in the town hall.., have gone over the stables. 1909 ‘W. N. P. Barbellion’ Jrnl. 25 Dec. (1919) 24, I..idly scan magazines in the Library and occasionally rink—with palpitation of the heart as a consequence. 1946 R. Campbell Talking Bronco 25 The zephyr from the blue nevadas, Stirruped with kestrels, smoothly rinking The level wave where halcyons drowse. |