rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryclinkerHeat-fused material
noun

clinker

KLINK-er/ˈklɪŋkər/

Hard material fused together by intense heating.

Hard clinker lumps contrast with the loose furnace ash.

Close view of hard, irregular fused clinker lumps in the ash tray beneath a coal furnace grate, contrasting their stony, blistered surfaces with loose powdery ash and the burning coal above.
Etymology
clinkerDutchpaving brick

Dutch klinkaerd named a paving brick for the ringing sound it made when struck. The brick name later came to denote a mass of slag, connecting it with the hard residue sense.

In context

Factory Secrets: How It's Made397:12
breaks down, releasing carbon dioxide and transforms into calcium oxide. This is the moment of truth. The raw material begins to melt and clump into little gray balls called clinker.
The World's Heaviest Metal: Turning Industrial Sludge into Fortune

More examples

  • The workers removed clinker from the ash.
  • The kiln produced cement clinker.
  • A fused lump of clinker rang when struck.

Forms

clinker · clinkers

Similar words

ash
Ash is loose combustion residue; clinker is fused into hard lumps.
slag
Slag is fused waste from metal processing; clinker has broader furnace and kiln uses.