Standard Lemma guide

clinker-built

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌklɪŋkəˈbɪlt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌklɪŋkɚˈbɪlt/
  • rhymes with -ɪlt

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of a boat or ship: where the hull planks overlap each other edge-to-edge, similar to shingles on a roof, and are secured by clenched nails or rivets for a strong, watertight seal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clench-built, clinch-built, clincher-built, lapstrake

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

having overlapping hull planks

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clincher-built, lap-strake, lap-straked, lap-streak, lap-streaked

Antonyms: carvel-built

History

Etymology

From clinker + built. Clinker is derived from clink (“to clench or fasten with nails or rivets”) + -er (suffix attached to verbs forming agent nouns indicating persons or things that do actions indicated by the verbs), and clink is a northern English variant of clench (“to secure (something) with bolts, nails, etc.; (specifically) to bend the point of a nail after it has been hammered through something so that the nail cannot be removed; to clinch”), from Middle English clinken, clenchen (“to fasten, specifically with nails or rivets; to enclose; to lock up; to clench (the fingers)”) [and other forms], from Old English clenċan (“to clinch, hold fast”), a variant of clenġan (“to adhere; to remain”), from Proto-Germanic *klangijaną (“to make cling or stick”), the causative of *klinganą (“to adhere to, cling to”), from Proto-Indo-European *gleh1y- (“to glue, stick; to smear”).

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: tinglat — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Dutch: overnaads — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Finnish: limisaumainen — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • French: bordé à clin — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Galician: trincado — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Norwegian Bokmål: klinkbygd — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Norwegian Bokmål: klinkbygget — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: klinkbygd — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Spanish: tingladillo — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates
  • Swedish: klinkbyggd — having the hull constructed with overlapping hull planks or plates