sank

See also: sänk, šank, and sānk

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: săngk, (without æ-raising) IPA^(key): /ˈsæŋk/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

    • (æ-raising) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ̯ŋk/, /ˈsɛ̃ŋk/

      • Audio (US):

        (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋk
• Hyphenation: sank

Verb

sank

1. simple past of sink

See also

• sank work

Anagrams

• Kans., kans, naks

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋk

Verb

sank

1. first/third-person singular preterite of sinken

Middle Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon sang, from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz. Related to singen (“to sing”).
Cognate with Old High German sanc (German Gesang (“singing”)), Old Norse sǫngr. Modern cognates include English song and Swedish sång.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saŋk/

Noun

sank m (genitive sanges)

1. the act of singing
2. a chant
3. a song, especially one sung during work
4. the sound of a bell, bell ringing

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

sank

1. simple past of synke
2. imperative of sanke

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish sank, related to sjunka (“to sink, intransitive, to go down”) and sänka (“to sink, transitive, to make something go down”).

Adjective

sank (comparative sankare, superlative sankast)

1. marshy

Declension

Inflection of sank

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	sank	sankare	sankast
neuter singular	sankt	sankare	sankast
plural	sanka	sankare	sankast
masculine plural2	sanke	sankare	sankast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	sanke	sankare	sankaste
all	sanka	sankare	sankaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• sankhet
• sankmark
• sankäng

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish sank, from Middle Low German in sank.

Adjective

sank (not comparable, indeclinable)

1. sunk (the state (of a ship or the like) of no longer being able to float due to damage)

   Fartyget sköts i sank av en ubåt

   The ship was sunk by a submarine [was shot and damaged so that it could no longer float, more literally, with sinking often implied]

2. (figuratively) sunk; shot down; defeated

   Hans huvudargument sköts i sank

   His main argument was shot down

   Semesterplanerna sköts i sank av vulkanutbrottet

   The vacation plans were ruined by the volcanic eruption

See also

• gå i kvav

References

• “sank”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “sank”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “sank”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)