sink Definition
sink (siŋk)
intransitive verb sank or sunk, sunk, sink′·ing
- to go beneath the surface of water, deep snow, soft ground, etc. so as to be partly or completely covered
- to go down slowly; fall or descend gradually
- to appear to fall or descend the sun sinking in the west
- to become lower in level; diminish in height or depth a lake that has sunk three inches
- to slope downward (from, to, etc.)
- to diminish or decrease in degree, volume, or strength; subside, as wind, flames, a sound, spirits, etc.
- to become lower in value or amount; lessen, as prices, funds, etc.
- to seem or become hollow or shrunken; recede, as the cheeks or eyes
- to pass gradually (into sleep, despair, lethargy, etc.)
- to become increasingly and dangerously ill; approach death; fail
- to lose position, wealth, prestige, dignity, etc.
- to lose or abandon one's moral values and stoop (to some unworthy action)
- to become absorbed; penetrate
Etymology: ME sinken < OE sincan, akin to Ger sinken < IE base *sengw-, to fall, sink > Gr heaphthē, (he) sank
transitive verb
- to cause to submerge or go beneath the surface to sink a boat, to sink a spade into the ground
- to cause or allow to fall or go down; lower
- to make (a well, mine, engraved design, etc.) by digging, drilling, or cutting
- to cause to penetrate or become absorbed
- to reduce in volume, amount, degree, or intensity
- to invest (money, capital, etc.)
- to lose by investing
- to hold back, suppress, or conceal (evidence, identity, personal interests, etc.)
- to pay up (a debt)
- to cause to lose courage, strength, etc. or position, dignity, etc.
- to debase (character, dignity, etc.)
- to defeat; undo; ruin
- ☆ Sports to put (a basketball, golf ball, etc.) through the net, into the cup, etc. so as to score
noun
- a cesspool or sewer
- any place or thing considered morally filthy or corrupted
- any of various basins, as in a kitchen or laundry, connected with a drainpipe and, usually, a water supply
- a repository or device for collecting, removing, or absorbing energy, heat, a specific substance, etc. from a system and then disposing of or dissipating it
- ☆ Geol.
- an area of slightly sunken land, esp. one in which water collects, often forming a salt lake, or disappears by evaporation or percolation into the ground
- sinkhole (sense )
Etymology: ME sinke < the v.
sink Related Forms
sink Idioms
sink in
Informal to be grasped by the mind, esp. with difficulty; be recognized or understood in full
sink Synonyms
sink Synonyms
sink
v.
To go downward
descend, decline, fall, subside, drop, droop, regress, slump, go under, immerse, go to the bottom, be submerged, settle, go to Davy Jones's locker*, hit a slump, touch bottom, go down with the ship. To cause to sink, sense 1
submerge, scuttle, depress, submerse, immerse, engulf, overwhelm, swamp, lower, bring down, force down, cast down, let down, send to Davy Jones's locker*; see also soak 1.To incline
To weaken
To deteriorate
spoil, degenerate, rot; see decay, waste 3.To decrease
sink Telecom Definition
sink Usage Examples
Object
- battleship: In December 1917 he succeeded in sinking the Austrian coast defense battleship WIEN inside the boom at Trieste.
- U-boat: Q. Was a German U-Boat really sunk by a truck?
- shaft: Around 1776 the Duke of Northumberland used miners to sink a vertical shaft down through the middle but found nothing of interest.
- ship: During the war the Germans sank many British ships, which were bringing food to our country.
Subject
- U-boat: HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a German U-boat on October 14, 1939, with the loss of 833 lives.
- submarine: The vessel was torpedoed and sunk by a submarine, 12 miles south by west of Anvil Point; 28 people were killed.
Adjective modifier
stainless: Built in kitchen units, wall units, stainless steel sink, hob, double oven, dishwasher, fridge, cooker hood extraction.
Preposition: into
- oblivion: The man claims that he saved the Party from sinking into oblivion.
- abyss: Every moment they perceived some friend floating around them, for a while, then sinking into the abyss to rise no more.
- obscurity: For around twenty years after his death, Cotman sank into almost complete obscurity.
Noun used with modifier
- drainer: One and a half bowl single drainer sink unit with mixer taps set into work surface with a range of cupboards and drawers under.
- steel: Built in kitchen units, wall units, stainless steel sink, hob, double oven, dishwasher, fridge, cooker hood extraction.
- bowl: Inset stainless steel 1.5 bowl sink and drainer with mixer tap over.
- butler: It has a white butler sink, wood-effect vinyl floor and space at one end for a large table and chairs.
- kitchen: Those kitchen sink films, like Billy Liar, hit me right in the heart.
- inset: Cutting out worktop for inset steel sink ( practice on plywood first ); marking out carefully to avoid errors.
Preposition: in
mire: The Opposition, sunk in the mire of its mistakes, alone failed to understand these successes.
Preposition: with
sprayer: Groovy Girls is also launching a Groovy Style Sittin' Pretty salon with hair dryer, sink with water sprayer and large mirror and chair.
Preposition: by
Browse dictionary entries near sink
- ‹ Sinitic
- ‹ sinistrous
- ‹ sinistrorse
- ‹ sinistrodextral
- ‹ sinistro-
- ‹ sinistral
- ‹ sinister
- ‹ Sining
- ‹ Sinicism
- ‹ Sinhalese

