. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
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
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 (directly or indirectly) cause a vessel to sink, generally by making it no longer watertight .
An iceberg sank the Titanic . British battleships sank the Bismarck .
( 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.
( heading, social ) To diminish or be diminished.
( intransitive , figuratively , of the heart or spirit) To experience apprehension , disappointment , dread , or momentary depression .
1850 , [Alfred, Lord Tennyson ], In Memoriam , London: Edward Moxon , , →OCLC , Canto XX, page 34 :But open converse is there none, So much the vital spirits sink To see the vacant chair, and think, ‘How good! how kind! and he is gone.’
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 , chapter XIX, in The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel , Boston: Little, Brown, and Company: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 Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :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 April 24, Steve Henschel, Niagara This Week :Who would sink so low as to steal change from veterans?
( 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
( 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.
( transitive , slang ) To pay absolutely.
2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian :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 Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :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 , archaic ) To die .
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:die
1865 June 17, C. C. Richards, M.D., &c., “Report of a Case of Multiple Fatty Tumours”, in The Lancet , volume 85 , number 2181 , London: George Fall, page 650 :However, before the entire mass was detached, a copious oozing of blood took place, when the patient lost from a pint to a pint and a half; and which, doubtless, so lowered him that he never rallied, but sank in about an hour and a half after the operation was completed.
1956 , Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929–1945 , volume 1, page 174 :[ …] as September drew towards its close, and reports came from Munich that Gömbös was sinking fast, the Right in their turn were credited by the Prager Presse and by certain foreign journalists, who drew their inspiration from the same sources, with sensational designs.
( 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 J , 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
Derived terms
Translations
descend into liquid, etc
Albanian: zhyt (sq)
Arabic: غَطَسَ ( ḡaṭasa )
Armenian: սուզվել (hy) ( suzvel )
Aromanian: afundu
Azerbaijani: batmaq (az)
Bashkir: батыу ( batıw )
Basque: hondoratu
Belarusian: тану́ць impf ( tanúcʹ ) , апуска́цца impf ( apuskácca )
Bulgarian: потъвам (bg) ( potǎvam )
Catalan: enfonsar (ca)
Cebuano: lunod
Cherokee: ᎦᏃᏴᎦ ( ganoyvga )
Chinese:
Eastern Min: 沉 ( teing )
Mandarin: 沉 (zh) ( chén ) , 下沉 (zh) ( xiàchén )
Czech: potopit se (cs)
Danish: synke (da)
Dutch: zinken (nl)
Esperanto: alfundiĝi , droni , sinki
Estonian: vajuma
Faroese: søkka
Finnish: upota (fi) ( liquid, like water ) , vajota (fi) ( solid or very viscous liquid )
French: couler (fr) , s’enfoncer (fr)
Galician: afundir (gl) , perfundir , afondar (gl) , alagar (gl)
Georgian: ჩაძირვა ( čaʒirva ) , ძირვა ( ʒirva )
German: sinken (de)
Greek: βυθίζομαι (el) ( vythízomai ) , βουλιάζω (el) ( vouliázo )
Ancient: βυθίζομαι ( buthízomai )
Higaonon: nalumos
Hungarian: elsüllyed (hu) , elmerül (hu) , süllyed (hu) , merül (hu)
Icelandic: sökkva (is)
Ido: sinkar (io)
Ingrian: upota ( in water ) , vajota ( in e.g. a swamp )
Italian: affondare (it) , ( of a ship ) sprofondare (it) , immergersi (it) , andare a fondo
Japanese: 沈む (ja) ( しずむ, shizumu )
Javanese: keleleb , kèrem
Korean: 가라앉다 (ko) ( garaanda )
Latgalian: sleikt
Latin: mergor (la)
Latvian: slīkt
Lithuanian: grim̃zti
Maori: pōharu ( into mud or a bog ) , pōharuharu ( into mud or a bog ) , pōwharu ( into mud or a bog ) , pōwharuwharu ( into mud or a bog ) , tāpokopoko ( into mud or a bog ) , torongi ( of the sun into the horizon ) , totohu ( of a ship in water ) , tapoko ( into mud or a bog )
Middle English: avalen , valen
Norwegian: synke (no)
Bokmål: synke (no)
Occitan: enfonsar (oc)
Old English: ādrincan ( of ships )
Old Javanese: karĕm
Polish: tonąć (pl)
Portuguese: afundar (pt)
Romanian: scufunda (ro) , afunda (ro)
Russian: тону́ть (ru) impf ( tonútʹ ) , утону́ть (ru) pf ( utonútʹ ) , опуска́ться (ru) ( opuskátʹsja ) , погружа́ться (ru) ( pogružátʹsja )
Sanskrit: मज्जति (sa) ( majjati )
Scottish Gaelic: sìolaidh
Serbo-Croatian: тонути ( tonuti )
Spanish: hundir (se ) , afondar (se )
Swahili: -zamisha
Swedish: sjunka (sv)
Tagalog: lumubog
Thai: จม (th) ( jom )
Turkish: batmak (tr)
Ukrainian: опуска́тися ( opuskátysja ) , зни́жуватися ( znýžuvatysja ) , па́дати ( pádaty ) , впада́ти ( vpadáty ) , запада́ти ( zapadáty ) , of the sun заходи́ти ( zaxodýty ) , тону́ти ( tonúty ) , зану́рюватися ( zanúrjuvatysja ) , іти́ на дно ( itý na dno ) , потупа́ти ( potupáty ) , of a foundation осіда́ти ( osidáty ) , into the mind запа́сти в па́м’ять ( zapásty v pámʺjatʹ ) , врізатися в па́м’ять ( vrizatysja v pámʺjatʹ ) , weaken or die слабша́ти ( slabšáty ) ги́нути ( hýnuty ) , into poverty зубожі́ти ( zubožíty ) , have one's spirits sink занепа́сти ду́хом ( zanepásty dúxom ) .
Uzbek: choʻmmoq (uz)
Welsh: suddo (cy)
submerge
Albanian: zhyt (sq)
Armenian: սուզել (hy) ( suzel ) , խորտակել (hy) ( xortakel )
Azerbaijani: batırmaq (az)
Bashkir: батыу ( batıw )
Bulgarian: потапям (bg) ( potapjam ) , наводнявам (bg) ( navodnjavam )
Catalan: submergir-se (ca)
Dutch: onderdompelen (nl)
Esperanto: alfundigi
Finnish: upottaa (fi)
Galician: mergullar (gl) , afundir (gl) , enfundir , sufondar
Georgian: ჩაძირვა ( čaʒirva ) , დაძირვა ( daʒirva ) , ძირვა ( ʒirva )
Greek: βυθίζω (el) ( vythízo )
Hungarian: süllyed (hu) , lesüllyed (hu) , merül (hu) , elmerül (hu) , lemerül (hu) , bukik (hu) , lebukik (hu) , süpped (hu)
Italian: immergere (it)
Maori: whakatotohu
Polish: topić (pl) , zanurzać (pl)
Portuguese: submergir (pt)
Russian: топи́ть (ru) impf ( topítʹ ) , утопи́ть (ru) pf ( utopítʹ ) , погружа́ть (ru) ( pogružátʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: sìolaidh
Spanish: hundir (se ) , sumergir (se )
Ukrainian: топи́ти ( topýty ) , a well копа́ти колодя́зь ( kopáty kolodjázʹ ) , ри́ти колодя́зь ( rýty kolodjázʹ ) , capital невда́ло покла́сти ( nevdálo poklásty )
cause (ship, etc) to sink
Albanian: fundos (sq)
Armenian: սուզել (hy) ( suzel ) , խորտակել (hy) ( xortakel )
Azerbaijani: batırmaq (az)
Bashkir: батырыу ( batırıw )
Belarusian: тапіць impf ( tapicʹ ) , патапіць pf ( patapicʹ ) , утапіць pf ( utapicʹ )
Bulgarian: потопявам (bg) ( potopjavam )
Catalan: enfonsar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: potopit (cs)
Danish: sænke
Dutch: tot zinken brengen
Esperanto: alfundigi
Estonian: uputama
Faroese: søkkja
Finnish: upottaa (fi)
French: couler (fr) m
Galician: afundir (gl) , afondar (gl) , alagar (gl)
Georgian: დაძირვა ( daʒirva ) , ჩაძირვა ( čaʒirva )
German: senken (de)
Gothic: 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌵𐌰𐌽 ( sigqan )
Greek: βυθίζω (el) ( vythízo ) , ποντίζω (el) ( pontízo )
Ancient: βυθίζω ( buthízō )
Hungarian: elsüllyeszt (hu)
Icelandic: sökkva (is)
Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
Ingrian: upottaa ( in water ) , vajottaa ( in e.g. a swamp )
Italian: affondare (it) , inabissare (it) , colare a picco (it)
Japanese: 沈める (ja) ( しずめる, shizumeru )
Khmer: បញ្ចុះ (km) ( bɑɲcoh ) , បំផ្លិច (km) ( bɑmpləc ) , ប្លេង (km) ( pleɛŋ ) , ពន្លង់ (km) ( pʊənlʊəŋ ) , ពន្លិច (km) ( pʊənlɨc ) , លិច (km) ( lɨc ) , សំរុត ( sɑmrot )
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: mergo (la) , mersum
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Maori: whakatotohu
Norwegian: senke
Bokmål: senke
Polish: zatapiać (pl) impf , zatopić (pl) pf
Portuguese: afundar (pt)
Romanian: please add this translation if you can
Russian: топи́ть (ru) impf ( topítʹ ) , потопи́ть (ru) pf ( potopítʹ )
Slovak: please add this translation if you can
Spanish: hundir (es)
Swedish: sänka (sv)
Thai: จม (th) ( jom )
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: затопи́ти ( zatopýty )
Vietnamese: chìm (vi)
Noun
a bathroom sink (basin for holding water)
sink (plural sinks )
A basin used for holding water for washing .
2008 November 21 , Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd , Season 3, Episode 1:
Roy: The work was fiiine. There was nothing wrong with the work. But they caught him... He pissed in the sink .Jen: Oh. Oh!Roy: Yeah...Jen: Which sink ?Roy: All the sinks . Yeah, he basically went on a pee parade around the house.Jen: Oh God , I have to fire him.
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 .
( uncountable ) Descending motion ; descent .
An excessive sink rate at touchdown can cause the aircraft's landing gear to collapse.
( baseball ) The motion of a sinker pitch .
Jones has a two-seamer with heavy sink .
( computing , programming ) An object or callback that captures events .
Coordinate terms: data sink , event sink
( graph theory ) A destination vertex in a transportation network .
( graph theory ) A node in directed graph for which all of its edges go into it; one with no outgoing edges.
An abode of degraded persons ; a wretched place .
A depression in a stereotype plate .
( theater ) A stage trapdoor for shifting scenery .
( mining ) An excavation smaller 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
( antonym(s) of “ graph theory ” ) : source
Derived terms
Translations
basin
Albanian: lavaman m , lajtore (sq) f
Arabic: مَجْلَى (ar) f ( majlā ) , مَغْسَلَة f ( maḡsala )
Egyptian Arabic: حوض m ( hōḍ )
Hijazi Arabic: حوض m ( hōḍ ) , مِغْسَلَة f ( miḡsala )
Armenian: լվացարան (hy) ( lvacʻaran )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܠܲܩܢܵܐ m ( laqnā )
Basque: (kitchen sink) harraska
Belarusian: ра́кавіна f ( rákavina ) , умыва́льнік m ( umyválʹnik )
Bulgarian: ми́вка f ( mívka ) , умива́лник (bg) m ( umiválnik )
Catalan: pica (ca) f , lavabo (ca) m , aigüera (ca) f , fregadora (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 水槽 (zh) ( shuǐcáo ) , 盥洗盆 ( guànxǐpén ) ( washbasin ) , 洗手盆 ( xǐshǒupén ) ( washbasin )
Czech: dřez (cs) m , umyvadlo n
Danish: vask (da) c , (kitchen sink ) køkkenvask (da) c , håndvask (da) c
Dutch: gootsteen (nl) m , afwasbak (nl) m
Esperanto: lavujo
Estonian: valamu , kraanikauss
Faroese: vask n
Finnish: pesuallas (fi)
French: évier (fr) m , lavabo (fr) m
Galician: pía (gl) f , vertedoiro (gl) m ( kitchen )
Georgian: პირსაბანი ( ṗirsabani )
German: ( kitchen sink ) Spüle (de) f , Spülbecken (de) n , Spülstein (de) m ; ( bathroom washbasin ) Waschbecken (de) n , Lavabo (de) n ( Switzerland )
Greek: ( kitchen ) νεροχύτης (el) m ( nerochýtis ) , ( bathroom ) νιπτήρας (el) m ( niptíras )
Ancient: νιπτήρ m ( niptḗr )
Hebrew: כִּיּוֹר (he) m ( kior )
Hindi: चिलमची (hi) f ( cilamcī )
Hungarian: ( kitchen sink ) mosogató (hu) , ( washbasin ) mosdókagyló (hu)
Icelandic: vaskur (is) m
Ido: eviero (io)
Indonesian: wastafel (id) , bak cuci
Irish: doirteal (ga) m
Italian: lavandino (it) m , lavello (it) m
Japanese: 流し (ja) ( ながし, nagashi ) , キッチンシンク ( kitchin shinku ) , シンク (ja) ( shinku ) , 洗面台 (ja) ( せんめんだい, senmendai ) ( washbasin ) , 洗面器 (ja) ( せんめんき, senmenki )
Kazakh: шұңғылша ( şūñğylşa ) , қол жуғыш ( qol juğyş )
Khmer: អាងទឹក ( ʼaang tɨk ) , អាងលាងសំអាត ( ʼaang liəng sɑmʼaat )
Korean: 싱크 ( singkeu ) , 싱크대 (ko) ( singkeudae ) , 개수대 ( gaesudae ) , 세면기(洗面器) ( semyeon'gi )
Kyrgyz: раковина (ky) ( rakovina ) , умывальник (ky) ( umıvalnik ) , жуунгуч ( juunguc )
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latin: trulleum n , pollubrum n , fusorium n
Latvian: izlietne f
Lithuanian: praustuvas m , kriauklė f , plautuvė f
Macedonian: мијалник m ( mijalnik ) , лавабо́ n ( lavabó )
Malay: sinki
Maori: peihana , puoto
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: угаагуур (mn) ( ugaaguur )
Mongolian: ᠤᠬᠢᠶᠠᠭᠤᠷ ( ukiyaɣur )
Navajo: łeetsʼaaʼ biiʼ tánágisí ( kitchen sink )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: vask m , vaskekum m
Nynorsk: vask (nn) m , vaskekum m
Occitan: aiguièr (oc) m
Persian: سینک (fa) ( sink ) , ظرفشویی (fa) ( zarfšuyi ) , دستشویی (fa) ( dastšuyi )
Polish: zlew (pl) m , zlewozmywak (pl) m
Portuguese: pia (pt) f
Romanian: chiuvetă (ro) f
Russian: умыва́льник (ru) m ( umyválʹnik ) , ра́ковина (ru) f ( rákovina ) , мо́йка (ru) f ( mójka )
Sardinian: acuadera f , lavandinu m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: су̀допера f , лава̀бо̄ m
Roman: sùdopera (sh) f , lavàbō (sh) m
Slovak: drez m
Slovene: umivalnik m
Spanish: lavamanos (es) m ( bathroom or restroom ) , fregadero (es) m ( laundry room or kitchen ) , lavadero (es) m ( kitchen )
Swahili: sinki
Swedish: handfat (sv) n , skål (sv) c , vask (sv) c , ho (sv) c , diskho (sv) c , lavoar (sv) c
Tajik: дастшӯяк ( dastšüyak )
Tamil: please add this translation if you can
Thai: อ่าง (th) ( àang ) , อ่างล้างหน้า ( àang-láang-nâa )
Turkish: lavabo (tr)
Ukrainian: ми́йка f ( mýjka ) , кухо́нна ми́йка f ( kuxónna mýjka , literally “ kitchen sink ” ) , ра́ковина для сті́кання во́ди ( rákovyna dlja stíkannja vódy ) , ра́ковина f ( rákovyna ) , умива́льник m ( umyválʹnyk )
Urdu: چِلَمْچی f ( cilamcī )
Uzbek: umivalʼnik (uz) , rakovina
Venetan: (please verify ) lavelo m
Welsh: sinc (cy) f
West Frisian: oanrjocht c
Yiddish: וואַשבעקן m ( vashbekn )
References
Anagrams
Afrikaans
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 )
zinc
Azerbaijani
Etymology
Borrowed from German Zink , probably via Russian цинк ( cink ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
sink (definite accusative sinki , plural sinklər )
zinc
Estonian
Etymology
From German Schinken .
Noun
sink (genitive singi , partitive sinki )
ham
Declension
References
Faroese
Etymology
From German Zink .
Pronunciation
Noun
sink n (genitive singular sinks , uncountable )
( metal ) zinc
Declension
Derived terms
Icelandic
Etymology
Borrowed from German Zink .
Pronunciation
Noun
sink n (genitive singular sinks , no plural )
zinc ( chemical element )
Declension
Declension of sink (sg-only neuter )
Anagrams
Louisiana Creole
Etymology
Inherited from French cinq ( “ five ” ) .
Pronunciation
Numeral
sink
five
Maltese
Etymology
Borrowed from English sink .
Pronunciation
Noun
sink m (plural sinkijiet )
sink
Synonym: mejjilla
Mauritian Creole
Numeral
sink
Alternative spelling of senk
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
sink m or n (definite singular sinken or sinket ) ( uncountable )
zinc (chemical element, symbol Zn )
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From German Zink .
Pronunciation
Noun
sink m or n (definite singular sinken or sinket ) ( uncountable )
zinc (chemical element, symbol Zn )
Derived terms
References
“sink” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
West Frisian
Verb
sink
first-person singular present of sinke
imperative of sinke