also pink·ie or pink·y
noun
pl. pinks, also
pink·ies Nautical A small sailing vessel with a sharply narrowed stern and an overhanging transom.
Origin of pink
Middle English
from Middle Dutch
pinke
Noun (plural pinks)
- (regional) The common minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus. [from 15th c.]
- (regional) A young Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, before it becomes a smolt; a parr. [from 17th c.]
Noun (plural pinks)
- (now historical) A narrow boat. [from 15th c.]
Origin From Middle Dutch pincke.
Verb (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)
- To decorate a piece of clothing or fabric by adding holes or by scalloping the fringe.
- To prick with a sword.
- To wound by irony, criticism, or ridicule.
- To choose; to cull; to pick out.
Noun (plural pinks)
- A stab.
Origin Probably from Low Dutch or Low German; compare Low German pinken "˜hit, peck'.
Noun (plural pinks)
- Any of various flowers in the genus Dianthus, sometimes called carnations. [from 16th c.]
- This garden in particular has a beautiful bed of pinks.
- (dated) A perfect example; excellence, perfection; the embodiment of some quality. [from 16th c.]
- Your hat, madam, is the very pink of fashion.
- The colour of this flower, between red and white; pale red. [from 17th c.]
- My new dress is a wonderful shade of pink.
- Hunting pink; scarlet, as worn by hunters. [from 18th c.]
- (snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 6 points. [from 19th c.]
- Oh dear, he's left himself snookered behind the pink.
- (slang) An unlettered and uncultured, but relatively prosperous, member of the middle classes; compare babbitt, bourgeoisie.
Adjective (comparative pinker, superlative pinkest)
- Having a colour between red and white; pale red.
- Of a fox-hunter's jacket: scarlet.
- Having conjunctivitis.
- (informal) Relating to homosexuals as a group within society.
- the pink economy
- pink dollar; pink pound
Origin Origin unknown; perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked (Etymology 3, above).
Verb (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)
- (of a motor car) To emit a high "pinking" noise, usually as a result of ill-set ignition timing for the fuel used (in a spark ignition engine).
Verb (third-person singular simple present pinks, present participle pinking, simple past and past participle pinked)
- (obsolete) To wink; to blink.
Adjective (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Half-shut; winking.
Noun (plural Pinks)
- (slang, derogatory, dated) An operative of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
