sink
English
Etymology
From Middle English synken, from Old English sincan, from Proto-West Germanic *sinkwan, from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to fall, sink”).
Compare West Frisian sinke, Low German sinken, Dutch zinken, German sinken, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål synke, Swedish sjunka. In the causative sense, it replaced Old English senċan (“make sink”) from Proto-Germanic *sankwijaną.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /sɪŋk/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Baltimore, New Orleans" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /zɪŋk/
Audio (UK): (file) Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪŋk
- Homophones: sync, synch, cinque, zinc
Verb
sink (third-person singular simple present sinks, present participle sinking, simple past sank or sunk, past participle sunk or sunken)
- (heading, physical) To move or be moved into something.
- (ergative) To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
- A stone sinks in water. The sun gradually sank in the west.
- (transitive) To cause a vessel to sink, generally by making it no longer watertight.
- An iceberg sank the Titanic.
- (transitive) To push (something) into something.
- 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 11:
- Before installing the new surfacing material, sink any protruding nails.
- The joint will hold tighter if you sink a wood screw through both boards. The dog sank its teeth into the delivery man's leg.
- (transitive) To make by digging or delving.
- to sink a well in the ground
- (transitive, snooker, pool, billiards, golf) To pot; hit a ball into a pocket or hole.
- 2008, Edward Keating, The Joy of Ex: A Novel
- My sister beats me at pool in public a second time. I claim some dignity back by potting two of my balls before Tammy sinks the black.
- 2008, Edward Keating, The Joy of Ex: A Novel
- (ergative) To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
- (heading, social) To diminish or be diminished.
- (intransitive, figuratively, of the human heart) To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or momentary depression.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
- I tried, but I could not wake him. This caused me a great fear, and I looked around terrified. Then indeed, my heart sank within me. Beside the bed, as if he had stepped out of the mist, or rather as if the mist had turned into his figure, for it had entirely disappeared, stood a tall, thin man, all in black.
- 1915, Thornton W. Burgess, The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston; ch. XIX:
- Peter's heart sank. "Don't you think it is dreadful?" he asked.
- (transitive, figurative) To cause to decline; to depress or degrade.
- to sink one's reputation
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- And if I have a conscience, let it sink me
- 1700, Nicholas Rowe The Ambitious Stepmother, Act II, scene ii:
- Thy cruel and unnatural lust of power / Has sunk thy father more than all his years.
- (intransitive) To demean or lower oneself; to do something below one's status, standards, or morals.
- 2013, Steve Henschel, Niagara This Week, April 24:
- Who would sink so low as to steal change from veterans?
- 2013, Steve Henschel, Niagara This Week, April 24:
- (intransitive, figuratively, of the human heart) To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or momentary depression.
- (transitive, slang, archaic) To conceal and appropriate.
- 1726, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels:
- If you are sent with ready money to buy anything at a shop, and happen at that time to be out of pocket, sink the money, and take up the goods on your master's account.
- (transitive, slang, archaic) To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.
- 1849 December 15, Frederick William Robertson, Sermon 14, “The Principle of Spiritual Harvest”:
- I say not always dishonorable qualifications, but a certain flexibility of disposition; a certain courtly willingness to sink obnoxious truths, and adapt ourselves to the prejudices of the minds of others […]
- 1849 December 15, Frederick William Robertson, Sermon 14, “The Principle of Spiritual Harvest”:
- (transitive, slang) To drink (especially something alcoholic).
- 2021, Barbara Copperthwaite, The Girl in the Missing Poster
- […] just thought she was wrecked from all the Diamond White ciders she'd been sinking – I'd even bought her a couple of Blastaways, which in hindsight was a mistake.
- 2021, Barbara Copperthwaite, The Girl in the Missing Poster
- (transitive, slang) To pay absolutely.
- 2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian[1]:
- for 13 of his 15 years in charge, Burrell sank more money into the farm than he received in revenues, and the estate was £1.5m overdrawn.
- I have sunk thousands of pounds into this project.
- (transitive, slang, archaic) To reduce or extinguish by payment.
- to sink the national debt
- (intransitive) To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fail in strength.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.
- 1721, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry:
- then keep an even steady Fire under them, not too fierce at first, lest you scorch them; and let not the Fire sink or slacken, but rather increase till the Hops be near dry'd
- (intransitive) To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.
- a. 1746, Joseph Addison, The Tragedy of Cato, Act I, scene i:
- The Alps and Pyreneans sink before him: / Through wind and waves, and storms he works his way
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
- It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
Usage notes
- Use of sunk for the simple past instead of sank is not uncommon, but may be considered non-standard. See also the obsolete sench.
Synonyms
- (descend into a liquid, etc): descend, go down
- (submerge): dip, dunk, submerge
- (cause (ship, etc) to sink):
- (push (something) into):
Derived terms
Translations
|
|
|
Noun
sink (plural sinks)
- A basin used for holding water for washing.
- 2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1:
- A drain for carrying off wastewater.
- (geology) A sinkhole.
- A depression in land where water collects, with no visible outlet.
- A heat sink.
- A place that absorbs resources or energy.
- (ecology) A habitat that cannot support a population on its own but receives the excess of individuals from some other source.
- (baseball) The motion of a sinker pitch.
- Jones has a two-seamer with heavy sink.
- (computing, programming) An object or callback that captures events; event sink
- (graph theory) a destination vertex in a transportation network
- An abode of degraded persons; a wretched place.
- A depression in a stereotype plate.
- (theater) A stage trap-door for shifting scenery.
- (mining) An excavation less than a shaft.
- (game development) One or several systems that remove currency from the game's economy, thus controlling or preventing inflation
- Antonym: faucet
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (destination vertex): source
Derived terms
- (washbasin): vessel sink
Translations
|
|
|
Related terms
References
- Honey, I sunk the boat, The Grammarphobia Blog
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Chemical element | |
---|---|
Zn | |
Previous: koper (Cu) | |
Next: gallium (Ga) |
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Dutch zinken, from Middle Dutch sinken, from Old Dutch *sincan, from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to fall, sink”).
Verb
sink (present sink, present participle sinkende, past participle gesink)
- (intransitive) to sink
Etymology 2
From Dutch zink, from German Zink.
Noun
sink (uncountable)
Estonian
Etymology
Noun
sink (genitive singi, partitive sinki)
Declension
Lua error in Module:et-nominals at line 58: Parameter 4 (final letter(s)) may not be empty.
References
Faroese
Chemical element | |
---|---|
Zn | |
Previous: kopar (Cu) | |
Next: gallium (Ga) |
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sink n (genitive singular sinks, uncountable)
- (metal) zinc
Declension
Declension of sink (singular only) | ||
---|---|---|
n3s | singular | |
indefinite | definite | |
nominative | sink | sinkið |
accusative | sink | sinkið |
dative | sinki | sinkinum |
genitive | sinks | sinksins |
Derived terms
Icelandic
Chemical element | |
---|---|
Zn | |
Previous: kopar (Cu) | |
Next: gallín (Ga) |
Etymology
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɪŋ̊k
Noun
sink n (genitive singular sinks, no plural)
- zinc (chemical element)
Declension
Declension of sink | ||
---|---|---|
n-s | singular | |
indefinite | definite | |
nominative | sink | sinkið |
accusative | sink | sinkið |
dative | sinki | sinkinu |
genitive | sinks | sinksins |
Anagrams
Louisiana Creole French
< 4 | 5 | 6 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : sink Ordinal : sinkyèmm | ||
Etymology
Pronunciation
Numeral
sink
- five.
Maltese
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sink m (plural sinkijiet)
Mauritian Creole
Numeral
sink
- Alternative spelling of senk
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
sink m or n (definite singular sinken or sinket) (uncountable)
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sink m or n (definite singular sinken or sinket) (uncountable)
Derived terms
References
- “sink” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
West Frisian
Verb
sink
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪŋk
- Rhymes:English/ɪŋk/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English ergative verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- en:Snooker
- en:Billiards
- en:Golf
- English intransitive verbs
- English slang
- English terms with archaic senses
- Eastern Min terms with redundant script codes
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Geology
- en:Ecology
- en:Baseball
- en:Computing
- en:Programming
- en:Graph theory
- en:Theater
- en:Mining
- English class 3 strong verbs
- English irregular verbs
- en:Home appliances
- af:Chemical elements
- Afrikaans terms with IPA pronunciation
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Old Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Afrikaans lemmas
- Afrikaans verbs
- Afrikaans entries with topic categories using raw markup
- Afrikaans intransitive verbs
- Afrikaans terms derived from German
- Afrikaans nouns
- Afrikaans uncountable nouns
- af:Metals
- Estonian terms borrowed from German
- Estonian terms derived from German
- Estonian terms derived from Old High German
- Estonian terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Estonian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Estonian lemmas
- Estonian nouns
- Estonian entries with topic categories using raw markup
- et:Meats
- fo:Chemical elements
- Faroese terms derived from German
- Faroese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Faroese/ɪŋ̊k
- Faroese lemmas
- Faroese nouns
- Faroese neuter nouns
- Faroese uncountable nouns
- is:Chemical elements
- Icelandic terms borrowed from German
- Icelandic terms derived from German
- Rhymes:Icelandic/ɪŋ̊k
- Rhymes:Icelandic/ɪŋ̊k/1 syllable
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic neuter nouns
- Icelandic uncountable nouns
- Louisiana Creole terms inherited from French
- Louisiana Creole terms derived from French
- Louisiana Creole terms with IPA pronunciation
- Louisiana Creole lemmas
- Louisiana Creole numerals
- Louisiana Creole entries with incorrect language header
- Louisiana Creole cardinal numbers
- Maltese terms borrowed from English
- Maltese terms derived from English
- Maltese 1-syllable words
- Maltese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Maltese/ɪnk
- Rhymes:Maltese/ɪnk/1 syllable
- Maltese lemmas
- Maltese nouns
- Maltese masculine nouns
- Mauritian Creole lemmas
- Mauritian Creole numerals
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål entries with topic categories using raw markup
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns with multiple genders
- Norwegian Bokmål uncountable nouns
- nb:Chemical elements
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from German
- Norwegian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk entries with topic categories using raw markup
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns with multiple genders
- Norwegian Nynorsk uncountable nouns
- nn:Chemical elements
- West Frisian non-lemma forms
- West Frisian verb forms