1. The act of one who lines; the act or process of making lines, or of
inserting a lining.
2. That which covers the inner surface of anything, as of a garment or
a box; also, the contents of anything.
The lining of his coffers shall make coats To deck our soldiers.
Shak.
Link (lk), n. [Prob. corrupted from lint and this for lunt a torch,
match, D. lont match; akin to G. lunte, cf. MHG. lünden to burn. Cf.
Lunt, Linstock.] A torch made of tow and pitch, or the like. Shak.
Link, n. [OE. linke, AS. hlence; akin to Sw. länk ring of a chain, Dan.
lænke 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.
<! p. 857 pr=VMG !>
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.