link definition | Dictionary.com

link

1 [lingk]

–noun

1.	one of the rings or separate pieces of which a chain is composed.

2.	anything serving to connect one part or thing with another; a bond or tie: The locket was a link with the past.

3.	a unit in a communications system, as a radio relay station or a television booster station.

4.	any of a series of sausages in a chain.

5.	a cuff link.

6.	a ring, loop, or the like: a link of hair.

7.	Computers. an object, as text or graphics, linked through hypertext to a document, another object, etc.

Surveying, Civil Engineering.

a.	(in a surveyor's chain) a unit of length equal to 7.92 inches (20.12 centimeters).

b.	one of 100 rods or loops of equal length forming a surveyor's or engineer's chain.

9.	Chemistry. bond ¹ (def. 15).

10.	Machinery. a rigid, movable piece or rod, connected with other parts by means of pivots or the like, for the purpose of transmitting motion.

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

11.	to join by or as if by a link or links; connect; unite (often fol. by up): The new bridge will link the island to the mainland. The company will soon link up with a hotel chain.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME link(e) < ODan lænkia chain; c. ON hlekkr link (pl., chain), OE hlence coat of chain mail, akin to G Gelenk joint

Related forms:

linker, noun

Synonyms:
2. connection, connective, copula. 10. bond, league, conjoin, fasten, bind, tie, pin.

link

2 [lingk]

–noun

a torch, esp. of tow and pitch.

Origin:
1520–30; perh. special use of link ¹ ; the torches so called may have been made of strands twisted together in chainlike form

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To link

link¹ (lĭngk)

One of the rings or loops forming a chain.
1. A unit in a connected series of units: links of sausage; one link in a molecular chain.
2. A unit in a transportation or communications system.
3. A connecting element; a tie or bond: grandparents, our link with the past.
4. An association; a relationship: The Alumnae Association is my link to the school's present administration.
5. A causal, parallel, or reciprocal relationship; a correlation: Researchers have detected a link between smoking and heart disease.
1. An association; a relationship: The Alumnae Association is my link to the school's present administration.
2. A causal, parallel, or reciprocal relationship; a correlation: Researchers have detected a link between smoking and heart disease.
A cuff link.
Abbr. li A unit of length used in surveying, equal to 0.01 chain, 7.92 inches, or about 20.12 centimeters.
A rod or lever transmitting motion in a machine.
Computer Science A segment of text or a graphical item that serves as a cross-reference between parts of a hypertext document or between files or hypertext documents. Also called hotlink, hyperlink.

v. linked, link·ing, links

v. tr.

To connect with or as if with a link: linked the rings to form a chain. See Synonyms at join.
Computer Science To make a hypertext link in: linked her webpage to her employer's homepage.

v. intr.

To become connected with or as if with a link: The molecules linked to form a polymer.
Computer Science To follow a hypertext link: With a click of the mouse, I linked to the company's website.

[Middle English linke, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hlekkr, *hlenkr, from *hlenkr.]
link'er n.

link² (lĭngk)

n. A torch formerly used for lighting one's way in the streets.

[Possibly from Medieval Latin linchinus, lichnus, candle, from Latin lychnus, from Greek lukhnos, lamp; see leuk- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Link

Link\ (l[i^][ng]k), n. [Prob. corrupted from lint and this for lunt a torch, match, D. lont match; akin to G. lunte, cf. MHG. l["u]nden to burn. Cf. Lunt, Linstock.] A torch made of tow and pitch, or the like. --Shak.

Link

Link\, n. [OE. linke, AS. hlence; akin to Sw. l["a]nk ring of a chain, Dan. l[ae]nke chain, Icel. hlekkr; cf. G. gelenk joint, link, ring of a chain, lenken to bend.]

1. A single ring or division of a chain.

2. Hence: Anything, whether material or not, which binds together, or connects, separate things; a part of a connected series; a tie; a bond. "Links of iron." --Shak.

The link of brotherhood, by which One common Maker bound me to the kind. --Cowper.

And so by double links enchained themselves in lover's life. --Gascoigne.

3. Anything doubled and closed like a link; as, a link of horsehair. --Mortimer.

4. (Kinematics) Any one of the several elementary pieces of a mechanism, as the fixed frame, or a rod, wheel, mass of confined liquid, etc., by which relative motion of other parts is produced and constrained.

5. (Mach.) Any intermediate rod or piece for transmitting force or motion, especially a short connecting rod with a bearing at each end; specifically (Steam Engine), the slotted bar, or connecting piece, to the opposite ends of which the eccentric rods are jointed, and by means of which the movement of the valve is varied, in a link motion.

6. (Surveying) The length of one joint of Gunter's chain, being the hundredth part of it, or 7.92 inches, the chain being 66 feet in length. Cf. Chain, n., 4.

7. (Chem.) A bond of affinity, or a unit of valence between atoms; -- applied to a unit of chemical force or attraction.

8. pl. Sausages; -- because linked together. [Colloq.]

Link

Link\ (l[i^][ng]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Linked (l[i^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Linking.] To connect or unite with a link or as with a link; to join; to attach; to unite; to couple.

All the tribes and nations that composed it [the Roman Empire] were linked together, not only by the same laws and the same government, but by all the facilities of commodious intercourse, and of frequent communication. --Eustace.

Link

Link\, v. i. To be connected.

No one generation could link with the other. --Burke.

Link

Link\, n. [See Linch.]

1. A hill or ridge, as a sand hill, or a wooded or turfy bank between cultivated fields, etc. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

2. A winding of a river; also, the ground along such a winding; a meander; -- usually in pl. [Scot.]

The windings or "links" of the Forth above and below Stirling are extremely tortuous. --Encyc. Brit.

3. pl. Sand hills with the surrounding level or undulating land, such as occur along the seashore, a river bank, etc. [Scot.]

Golf may be played on any park or common, but its original home is the "links" or common land which is found by the seashore, where the short close tuft, the sandy subsoil, and the many natural obstacles in the shape of bents, whins, sand holes, and banks, supply the conditions which are easential to the proper pursuit of the game. --Encyc. of Sport.

4. pl. Hence, any such piece of ground where golf is played.

Language Translation for : link

Spanish: eslabón,

German: das (Ketten)Glied,

Japanese: 環

More Translations »

link (n.)

c.1440, "one of a series of rings or loops which form a chain," probably from O.N. *hlenkr (cf. O.Swed. lænker "chain, link," Norw. lenke, Dan. lænke), from P.Gmc. *khlankijaz (cf. Ger. lenken "to bend, turn, lead," gelenk "articulation, joint, link," O.E. hlencan (pl.) "armor"), from PIE base *qleng- "to bend." The verb (1387) is believed to be from the noun, though it is attested earlier. Missing link between man and apes dates to 1880.

link (lĭngk) Pronunciation Key
A segment of text or a graphical item that serves as a cross-reference between parts of a webpage or other hypertext documents or between webpages or other hypertext documents.

link
1. hard link or symbolic link.
2. hyperlink.
(1997-10-22)

Search another word or see link on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us