Chinks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Shallow openings or cracks in a surface
2. Narrow gaps that allow for the passage of light or air
3. Weak points in a structure or barrier that may compromise its integrity

Etymology: Chinks is simply the plural of "chink", a narrow crack or opening, and the singular has a neat small-word history. Its ancestor is Old English "ċine", meaning a crack, chine or chink, which is related to the word "chine", a fissure or ridge. English speakers then added a diminutive ending, "-k", to that base, giving a form that means something like "little crack". The ending is an old one that also appears in words such as "hillock" and "bullock". The word may also owe something to sound itself. Its origin is uncertain, but the sense of a small opening that lets light or noise through fits a form that imitates the thin, sharp quality of a gap. Whatever its exact route, the word has stayed close to its basic meaning of a narrow split.

Synonyms: cracks, gaps

Antonyms: integrity, wholeness