swink

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /swɪŋk/

Etymology 1

From Old English swinc.

Noun

swink (plural swinks)

1. (archaic) toil, work, drudgery
   • 1963, Anthony Burgess, Inside Mr. Enderby:

     Dead on this homecoming cue Jack came home, his hands sheerfree of salesman’s swink, ready for Enderby.

Etymology 2

From Old English swincan.

Verb

swink (third-person singular simple present swinks, present participle swinking, simple past swank, swonk, swinkt or swinked, past participle swunk, swunken, swonken, swinkt or swinked)

1. (archaic) to labour, to work hard
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     And on this board were frightful swords and knives that are made in a great cavern by swinking demons out of white flames that they fix in the horns of buffalos and stags that there abound marvellously.

References

• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=swink
• http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=swink

Anagrams

• winks