Etymology Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“to blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked. An earlier word for similar flesh-like colors, mostly displaced by pink, was incarnation ([1300s]; see Etymonline) and carnation.
Jasper couldn't have known they'd been overheard upstairs, but his little smirk coming and going invited you to guess he'd been up to something. He had the pink of sex about him still.2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 228:
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Both halves feature lyrics that are so teen-girly they sound like they were written in pink ink in a padlocked diary with hearts and frowny faces for punctuation.2016 March 24, Darryl Sterdan, “ZAYN’s ‘Mind of Mine’ and Gwen Stefani’s ‘This is What the Truth Feels Like’ top this week’s new music”, in The Toronto Star, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2018:
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Magenta, the colour evoked by red and blue light when combined.
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Pale red.
4
Any of various flowers of that colour in the genus Dianthus, sometimes called carnations.
This garden in particular has a beautiful bed of pinks.
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Dated A perfect example; excellence, perfection; the embodiment of some quality.
Your hat, madam, is the very pink of fashion.
Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
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Hunting pink; scarlet, as worn by hunters.
I had taken it for granted that there would be people ‘in pink’, but these enormous confident strangers overwhelmed me with the visible authenticity of their brick-red coats.1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 23:
it is interesting to note the curious legend that the pink of the hunting field is not due to any optical advantage but to an entirely different reason.1986, Michael J. O'Shea, James Joyce and Heraldry, SUNY, page 69:
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A huntsman.
The pinks stand about the inn-door lighting cigars and waiting to see us start, while their hacks are led up and down the market-place, on which the inn looks.1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days:
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Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Snooker, Sports One of the colour balls used in snooker, coloured pink, with a value of 6 points.
Oh dear, he's left himself snookered behind the pink.
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Slang An unlettered and uncultured, but relatively prosperous, member of the middle classes; compare Babbitt, bourgeoisie.
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Alternative Alternative form of pinko.
My own guess is that there are some pinks in the State Department and in other government departments and agencies, and of course they should be found and ousted; but it seems to me that this can be done without besmirching innocent people and without making such broadside charges that people will lose faith in all government.1981, Edwin R. Bayley, quoting Ben Hibbs, Joe McCarthy and the Press, page 163:
Then Eddie did what he calls, 'Two in the pink, one in the stink.' “I held up my right forefinger and middle finger and said, “Two.” Then I held up my ring finger and said “One. Two in the pussy, one in the ass.”2020 March 23, Mike Hatch, The Dumb Class: Boomer Junior High, Mike Hatch H&A Publishing, →ISBN, page 78:
pink
adj
Etymology Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“to blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked. An earlier word for similar flesh-like colors, mostly displaced by pink, was incarnation ([1300s]; see Etymonline) and carnation.
1
Having a colour between red and white; pale red.
2
Of a fox-hunter's jacket: scarlet.
3
Having conjunctivitis.
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By comparison to red (communist), supportive of socialist ideas but not actually socialist or communist.
The word "socialist" has so many connotations that it can cover almost anything from pink liberalism to red-red communism.1976, Bhalchandra Pundlik Adarkar, The Future of the Constitution: A Critical Analysis:
Informal Relating to homosexuals as a group within society.
the pink economy
pink pound
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pink dollar
pink triangle
The lesbian and gay movement must decide whether the Parade is for celebrating how far we've come as we further our struggle for liberation, or whether it is going to be just another profit-making industry, supporting lesbian and gay careerism and becoming part of the Establishment (albeit a pink one!)1991 August 24, Lori Nairne, “Whose Parade Is It, Anyway?”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 6, page 5:
Etymology Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“to blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked. An earlier word for similar flesh-like colors, mostly displaced by pink, was incarnation ([1300s]; see Etymonline) and carnation.
1
To become pink in color, to redden.
The woman’s pale skin pinked as she shook her head. “No. It’s out of my budget. Come on, Sammy”2014, Teresa Carpenter, Her Boss by Arrangement, page 136:
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To turn (something) pink.
They are all nearly nude, pinked and bronzed by the sun.1961, Tennessee Williams, The Night of the Iguana, New Directions Publishing, published 2009, act II, page 46:
The rabbits, still lining the roadside, but now pinked by dawn, craned their necks to follow her departure.1985, Carl Sagan, chapter 3, in Contact, Simon & Schuster, published 1997, page 57:
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To turn (a topaz or other gemstone) pink by the application of heat.
Because heating is relatively easy to perform once one is trained to do it, it can be assumed that any pink topaz from Brazil, the gem’s main modern producer, is colored more by man than nature.[…] Relatively few stones from Brazil have this trace element in enough quantity for what dealers call “pinking.”2012, David Federman, Modern Jeweler’s Consumer Guide to Colored Gemstones, page 227:
pink
noun
Etymology Unknown. Some lexicographers suggest comparison to regional German Pinke (“minnow; small salmon”), but this is not widely accepted.
Regional A young Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, before it becomes a smolt; a parr.
pink
verb
Etymology Probably ultimately imitative, or from Dutch pingelen (“to do fine needlework”) or Low German [Term?]; compare Low German pinken (“hit, peck”) and Pinke (“big needle”).
1
To decorate a piece of clothing or fabric by adding holes or by scalloping the fringe.
2
To prick with a sword.
‘Pugh!’ says she, ‘you have pinked a man in a duel, that's all.’1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
Within three seconds D'Artagnan pinked him thrice, dedicating each thrust as he dealt it. “One for Athos!" he cried. “One for Porthos!" and at the last, “one for Aramis!”1999 [1844], Jacques Le Clercq, The Three Musketeers, translation of original by Alexandre Dumas, page 187:
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To wound by irony, criticism, or ridicule.
“Young man, if you have no authority, let me speak to someone who has! Put me through to Mr. Berquist.” The stooge suddenly lost his smile and Jubal thought gleefully that he had at last pinked him.1961, Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, New York: Avon, →OCLC, page 127:
Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne! In thy vats our cares be drowned, With thy grapes our hairs be crowned.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
pink
verb
Etymology Onomatopoeic. Compare ping.
1
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).
2
Of a musical instrument, to sound a very high-pitched, short note.
And then the record changed, a piano pinking high a Poulenc-like theme.1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 590:
Pink
noun
Etymology Shortening.
1
Dated, Derogatory, Slang An operative of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
pink
noun
Etymology Borrowed from Middle Dutch pincke. Compare French pinque.
A Hungry Fox that had got a Cock in his Eye, and could not tell how to come at him ; cast himself at his Length upon the Ground, and there he lay winking and pinking as if he had Sore Eyes.1692, Roger L'Estrange, “A Fox and a Cock”, in Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists, page 409:
pink
noun
Etymology Probably ultimately imitative, or from Dutch pingelen (“to do fine needlework”) or Low German [Term?]; compare Low German pinken (“hit, peck”) and Pinke (“big needle”).
› A small hole made by puncturing something…
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Obsolete A small hole or puncture made by a sharp, slender instrument such as a rapier, poniard or dagger, or (by extension) a bullet; a stab.
At a great word she will her poynard draw, Looke for the pincke if once thou giue the lye.1601, Weever, Mirr. Mart., C j
A freebooter’s pink, sir, three or four inches deep.1607, Thomas Middleton, Your Five Gallants, iii 5:
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The fellow's a shrewd fellow at a pink.1638, “Lady's Trial”, in Ford, III. i:
He is spotted with marks of stabs and revolver 'pinks', and he takes all his wounds quite as matter of course.1885 May 13, Pall Mall G., 4/I:
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Obsolete A small hole or eyelet punched in a garment for decoration, as with a pinking iron; a scallop.
Item,..for iiil* powdringis and pinkis to the sam goune, .xij s1512, Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot, IV 215:
small pinks, cuts or iagges in clothes1598, Florio, Tagliuzzi:
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Is this pinke of equall proportion to this cut?1599, Ben Jonson, Cynthia's Rev., volume iv:
You had rather have / An ulcer in your body than a pink / More in your clothes.c. 1632–1641, Ben Jonson, Magnetick Lady, iii. 4
pink
noun
Etymology Unknown. Attested from the late 15th century.
1
Historical Any of various lake pigments or dyes in yellow, yellowish green or brown shades, made with plant coloring and a metallic oxide base.
To make Dutch pink, boil the stems of woad in a solution of alum, and then mix the liquor with clay, marl, or chalk, which will become mixed with the colour of the decoction1816, Pierre François Tingry, The Painter and Varnisher's Guide, page 245:
Carlyle (2001) lists from her study of nineteenth century British documentary sources yellow carmine, Dutch pink, English pink and yellow lake in descending order of intensity.2008, Nicholas Eastaugh, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin, Pigment Compendium, page 156: