I. ˈsiŋk verb
( sank -aŋk, -aiŋk ; or sunk ; sunk -əŋk ; or sunk·en -kən ; sinking ; sinks )
Etymology: Middle English sinken, from Old English sincan; akin to Old High German sinkan to sink, Old Norse sökkva, Gothic sinqan to sink, Greek heaphthē clung, sank, Armenian ankanim I fall, yield
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to become submerged : go to the bottom : submerge
the Atago sinks in 19 minutes — H.W.Baldwin
the overloaded raft sank below the surface
b. : to become partly buried or submerged (as in mud)
sinking up to his hips in the snow
must sink deeper into the morass before we again emerge onto firm ground — Vannevar Bush
c. : to descend into or become engulfed by the earth
whole towns sinking as the earth opens great cracks
2.
a.
(1) : to fall or drop to a lower place or level
letting his head sink to his chest
peeled off and sank into a cloud layer — W.F.Jenkins
the hand opens out fully and … quietly sinks down below the waist — Warwick Braithwaite
(2) : to flow at a lower depth or level
water … sinks down in the sandstone and finds its way extremely slowly north — K.S.Sandford
after the spring floods the brooks sink
(3) : to burn with lower intensity : die down
watching the flames sink and the coals begin to glow
(4) : to fall to a lower pitch or tone : become fainter
in the general hush his voice sank to a whisper — Waldo Frank
sounds of voices sinking in the distance
b. : to subside gradually : settle
some parts of the mainland are slowly sinking and some rising as time works its changes — American Guide Series: Texas
c. : to move or go out of sight : disappear from view
riding on, he looked back to see the workers sink below the tops of the hedgerows
d. : to move down in the sky toward or at the horizon
the sun sank below the western rim of the prairies — F.B.Gipson
though sun is sunk and darkness near — R.P.Warren
to follow knowledge like a sinking star — Alfred Tennyson
e. : to decline or slope gradually : dip
a spur of hills sinking into the opalescence of the far seas — Osbert Sitwell
ahead of her the road sank between the autumn fields and the brilliant patches of woods — Ellen Glasgow
3.
a. : to become lost or absorbed : penetrate
the river seems literally to sink into the earth before the hills on the horizon — Tom Marvel
the ink quickly sinks in the blotting paper
the kind of psychological poison which sinks so deeply into our system — H.A.Overstreet
b. : to become impressively known or felt or comprehended — usually used with in or into
the lesson of inflation had not sunk in — Roy Lewis & Angus Maude
the gloomy truth has sunk in that the buffalo no longer fill the prairies — D.W.Brogan
any abstract pattern … may in this way sink into my mind — Herbert Read
for any picture really to sink into your imagination … it is necessary to carry the feeling of the picture away with you — J.C.Powys
4. : to become deeply absorbed or immersed : fall — usually used with in or into
drew thoughtfully at his pipe and sank into a reverie — Dorothy Sayers
had sunk morosely into thought — Berton Roueché
overcome by exhaustion she sank quietly into sleep — Louis Bromfield
5.
a. : to go downward or deteriorate in quality, state, or condition : degenerate , retrogress — usually used with into or to
the old aristocracy sank in wealth and prestige — F.J.Mather
architectural training and taste had sunk back into a period of chaos — J.E.Gloag
should sink back into another Dark Age — Lindsay Rogers
sink into decay and eventual ruin — Ivor Bulmer-Thomas
causes the world of custom to sink into its deserved oblivion — C.S.Kilby
if the writer of fiction turns from this task he will sink deservedly to the level of formalistic entertainer — Elizabeth Janeway
b. : to grow less in amount : diminish in worth : decline
the population … sank from about 20 millions to about 9 — Herbert Agar
support from public funds had sunk to the vanishing point — C.L.Jones
real estate values sank to a new low — American Guide Series: New York City
c. : to fall in reputation or standing : lower oneself
I had sunk considerably in her estimation — Norman Douglas
no medieval artist sinks so low — G.G.Coulton
she'd die rather than sink to such a deed — Eden Phillpotts
6.
a. : to fall or drop slowly for lack of strength : give way : collapse
nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness — Mary W. Shelley
rose and sank upon her seat … fainting, praying, raving, despairing — Thomas De Quincey
his legs sink beneath him
b. : to move oneself gradually to a lower position
he sank down on the steps — Laura Krey
his body crouched almost as if he were going to sink upon all fours — Edith Sitwell
widows, bachelors, and old folk would sink back in their chairs with a nostalgic look — Charles Ruffing
7.
a. : to become borne down by misfortune or the pressure of events or difficulties
in imminent danger of sinking under the tyranny of a succession of small men — T.B.Macaulay
b. : to become depressed, discouraged, or sorrowful
studied this fresh proof of poverty with a sinking heart — T.B.Costain
sometimes his heart sank when he asked himself whether he and his family were withstanding it — Glenway Wescott
his courage sank
c. : to fail in health or strength
the frail system had been shattered, and all around saw that she was slowly sinking — William Black
his frame soon sank under the effects of study, toil, and persecution — T.B.Macaulay
were chasing a sinking fox and babbling for the kill — G.S.Patton
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cause or allow (something) to go or drop to a lower point or level
could have sunk the gun down the after hatch — Nevil Shute
sank his chin on his hands — Christine Weston
b. : to force or send down especially below the earth's surface
the iron clothes post Burton had sunk for her … near the fence — Minnie H. Moody
framed their rude huts with pairs of light poles sunk in the ground — American Guide Series: New York
he had been sunken into his grave — Marguerite Young
c. : to cause (something) to become embedded : drive , thrust
saw the hideous creature … as it prepared to sink its proboscis — William Beebe
sank the dagger up to its hilt
— often used with into
sank her nails into the palms of her hands — John Dos Passos
2.
a. : to cause (a ship or other object) to plunge or go under the water or to the bottom
estuaries were cluttered with sunken shipping — Current Biography
sank his colors in the Rio Grande and led the remnant of his command into Mexico — B.I.Wiley
b. : to place or force beneath the water : submerge
caissons had been sunk to keep out the water — American Guide Series: Vermont
men … sunk a grappling hook into position — Erle Stanley Gardner
c. : to engage deeply : engross the attention of : immerse — usually used with in or into
a wish to sink my mind into everything I saw and did and to absorb it all — Elyne Mitchell
described the scientist aptly by saying … that he sinks himself in the object — H.A.Overstreet
some producers can't bear the idea of sinking their own individualities in that of a man perhaps long since dead — Warwick Braithwaite
sunk in a sea of mystery — W.L.Sullivan
3.
a. : to dig or bore (a well or shaft) in the earth : excavate
this mine had been sunk to the tenth level — American Guide Series: Minnesota
hopes … to sink a shaft on the north side of the pyramid — Patrick Smith
water wells are sunk in various ways — W.J.Miller
sank a trial pit — O.M.Marashian
b.
(1) : to form (a hole or depression) by cutting or excising
sink words in stone
(2) : to permit ingress or insertion of (something) by such sinking
sink the screwhead level with the wood
a new kind of pottery … with loop handles sunk in the body on either side — Jacquetta & Christopher Hawkes
4. : to cast down or bring to a low condition or state : overwhelm , ruin , defeat
fighting gallantly under odds which would sink a less courageous … people — T.H.Fielding
sunk to the hovels though he was, he had the rags of a finer past about him — Robert Lynd
we've got to watch our step clear through … or we're sunk — Christopher Isherwood
— sometimes used as an imprecation
sink me, mister, but ye gave me a turn! I never heard ye open the door — Max Peacock
5.
a. : to lower in standing or reputation : abase
my motive … will not sink me in your esteem — Jane Austen
his prestige in society was sunk — Virginia Woolf
b. archaic : to set or consider as being at a low state or level : degrade
6.
a. obsolete : to cause (as water) to subside : lower
b. : to make (something) disappear by moving or sailing away
the ship gradually sank the coast
7.
a. archaic : to cause (a person) to become depressed or dejected
b.
(1) : to weaken physically : debilitate
trouble enough to sink a much younger man
seemed too sunken under the heat to take any notice of who took their passports — Dan Jacobson
(2) : to weaken or reduce the strength of (a bow)
sink your bow with repeated flexings
8.
a. archaic : to lessen in value or amount : cause (as prices) to decline
b. : to lower or soften (the voice) in speaking : modulate
he went on, sinking his voice — Hugh Walpole
9.
a. : to stop using : abandon
sank his old name when he got his title
b.
(1) : to avoid mention of or reference to (a matter or fact)
has a habit of sinking unpleasant truths
(2) : to conceal (a card or combination) by not melding (as in calling a trio when one holds quatorze at piquet)
c. : to subtract (the weight of the offal) when weighing meat
d.
(1) : to set aside : restrain , suppress
so to sink our personality as to be ready to drift with every current of opinion — S.J.Brown
men are able to sink passions for the good of the race — Waldemar Kaempffert
sinks her pride and approaches the despised neighbor — Richard Harrison
(2) : to exclude from consideration : subordinate
induce rival groups to sink their differences in the face of common danger — C.L.Jones
was ready to sink his republicanism so long as the nation was made — Times Literary Supplement
10. archaic : to take or assume (as money) for personal use : appropriate
11. : to pay off (as a debt) : liquidate
12.
a. : to invest (capital or labor) in a holding or development with intent to gain income or other receipts
no government could take land away from settlers who have sunk skill and capital in it for 50 years — Elspeth Huxley
will sink something over a million dollars into this plant just as a starter — Green Peyton
b. : to invest or spend (money) unprofitably or without hope of financial return
were more inclined to hurry past a town where they had sunk money that would never come back — Willa Cather
in undertaking to make this a sylvan retreat he sunk a large part of his patrimony — I.J.Cox
13. : to place (as the heading of a section of a book) below the level of the top line of the full text page
sink preface four picas
14. : to cause (a ball or other object) to go in or through a receptacle or hole in a game
sinks foul shots consistently
sank the eight ball in the corner pocket
always sinks his putts
Synonyms: see fall
•
- sink one's teeth
- sink or swim
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English sinke, from sinken to sink — more at sink I
1.
a.
(1) : a pool or sand-filled pit for the deposit of waste or sewage : cesspool
(2) : a container for foul matter or waste
the sea is the sink of the earth
making sinks of our rivers
b. : a ditch, drainpipe, or vaulted tunnel for carrying off sewage : sewer
c. : a stationary basin or a cabinet with a basin connected with a drain and usually a water supply for washing and drainage
2.
a. : a place where vice, corruption, or evil collects or gathers : den
came to be a sink of debauchery, vice, and crime — R.A.Hall b. 1911
will seem to him a sink of mediocrity and human indecency — V.S.Pritchett
known as a sink of iniquity
b. : a place where such evil breeds and spreads
from this sink of sin and bawdy carousal issued murderers, sneak thieves, footpads, burglars, harlots, arsonites, and swindlers of every variety — Herbert Asbury
3. obsolete : the vicious, corrupt, or evil persons of a place
4. : a preliminary excavation or pit to be enlarged until it is a full-sized shaft : sump
5.
a. : a depression in the land surface ; especially : one having a central playa or saline lake with no outlet
b. : a hollow in a limestone region communicating with a cavern or subterranean passage so that waters running into it disappear — called also sinkhole, swallow
6. obsolete : well 3a
7. archaic : a place where things disappear or are engulfed
8. : a depression made in a flat surface (as in the face of a timepiece)
9. : a part of the printing area of a plate (as an electrotype) that is too low to print properly
10. : a body or substance used for the disposal of a fluid or heat in the course of a hydrodynamic or a thermodynamic process (as the condenser of a steam engine)