From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishclinkerclink‧er /ˈklɪŋkə $ -ər/ noun 1 [countable, uncountable]TPG the hard material like rocks, which is left after coal has been burnt2 [countable] American EnglishAPM a bad note in a musical performance The singer hit a real clinker.3 [countable]FAIL American English informal something or someone that is a total failure Most of the songs are good, but there are a few clinkers.
Examples from the Corpus
clinker• And at each stage, if a clinker shows up, you know, you lost a week.• Crow roasted the earth to a clinker, he charged into space - Where is the Black Beast?• Its tough pale grass grows on mud and clinker dredged up from the docks.• Most of the album's songs are good, but there are a few clinkers.• The singer hit a real clinker in the last verse.• In the early days ordinary mill-stones were used as the clinker was soft and the cement need not be finely ground.• This was achieved by initially breaking the clinker with stone crushers before grinding.• Once the firing was completed the clinker was broken out and carted away to be ground.• As production methods improved the clinker produced was harder and the cement had to be more finely ground.• A bad burn could mean no usable clinker and hence no pay.Origin clinker 1. (1600-1700) klincard type of brick ((1600-1700)), from Dutch klinkaard2. (1900-2000) → CLINK1 