- Link
- 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.
[1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
The link of brotherhood, by which One common Maker bound me to the kind. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
And so by double links enchained themselves in lover's life. --Gascoigne. [1913 Webster]
3. Anything doubled and closed like a link; as, a link of horsehair. --Mortimer. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
7. (Chem.) A bond of affinity, or a unit of valence between atoms; -- applied to a unit of chemical force or attraction. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
