kink

WOTD – 21 April 2007    

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɪŋk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Etymology 1

From Middle English kinken, kynken, from Old English *cincian ("to laugh"; attested by cincung (“a fit of laughter”)), from Proto-Germanic *kinkōną (“to laugh”), from Proto-Indo-European *gang- (“to mock, jeer, deride”), related to Old English canc (“jeering, scorn, derision”). Cognate with Dutch kinken (“to kink, cough”).

Verb

kink (third-person singular simple present kinks, present participle kinking, simple past and past participle kinked)

1. To laugh loudly.
2. To gasp for breath as in a severe fit of coughing.

Noun

kink (plural kinks)

1. A convulsive fit of coughing or laughter; a sonorous indraft of breath; a whoop; a gasp of breath caused by laughing, coughing, or crying.

Etymology 2

From Norwegian or Swedish kink (“a twist or curl in a rope”), from Middle Low German kinke (“spiral screw, coil”), from Proto-Germanic *kenk-, *keng- (“to bend, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *gengʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid, weave”). Cognate with Icelandic kengur (“a bend or bight; a metal crook”).

Noun

kink (plural kinks)

1. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of thin material, hair etc.

   We couldn't get enough water to put out the fire because of a kink in the hose.

2. A difficulty or flaw that is likely to impede operation, as in a plan or system.

   They had planned to open another shop downtown, but their plan had a few kinks.

3. (slang) Peculiarity or deviation in sexual behaviour or taste.
4. (Scotland, dialect) A fit of coughing or laughter.
5. (mathematics) A positive 1-soliton solution to the Sine–Gordon equation

Translations

tight curl, twist, or bend

• Dutch: kink (nl)
• Finnish: sykkyrä (fi)
• French: coude (fr) m
• Hebrew: קשר (he) (kesher) m

• Portuguese: cacho (pt)
• Spanish: arruga (es) f, pliegue (es) m, doblez (es) m
• Swedish: knut (sv) c, veck (sv) n, fnurra (sv) c

difficulty or flaw that impedes operation

• Finnish: puute (fi), vika (fi)
• French: hic (fr) m, imprévu (fr) m

• Spanish: problema (es) m, impedimento (es) m, pero (es) m, inconveniente (es)

peculiarity in sexual behaviour or taste

• Finnish: kierouma
• Portuguese: tara (pt) f

• Spanish: desviación (es) f, rareza (es) f, desvarío (es) m, excentricidad (es) f

Verb

kink (third-person singular simple present kinks, present participle kinking, simple past and past participle kinked)

1. (transitive) To form a kink or twist.
2. (intransitive) To be formed into a kink or twist.

Translations

to form a kink

• Spanish: arrugar (es), doblar (es)

Derived terms

• kinked
• kinky
• kinkle
• kinkster