sink
verbUS, UK /ˈsɪŋk/ · /ˈsiŋk/
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.
16 senses
- 1To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a…
- 2To (directly or indirectly) cause a vessel to sink…
- 3To push (something) into something.
- 4To make by digging or delving.
- 5To pot; hit a ball into a pocket or hole.
- 6To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or…
- 7To cause to decline; to depress or degrade.
- 8To demean or lower oneself; to do something below one's…
- 9To conceal and appropriate.
- 10To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.
- 11To drink (especially something alcoholic).
- 12To pay absolutely.
- 13To reduce or extinguish by payment.
- 14To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fail in strength.
- 15To die.
- 16To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become…
› To move or be moved into something.
1
Heading Ergative, Physical 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.
2
Heading Physical 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.
3
Heading Physical To push (something) into something.
- Before installing the new surfacing material, sink any protruding nails.1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 11:
- I have to take the turn, sink hooks and nails so I'll return And it could get me every time, but I must taste fire Infectious is the flame that burns2014 May 9, “Melting of My Marrow”, in Killer Be Killed, performed by Killer Be Killed:
1 more example
- 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.
4
Heading Physical To make by digging or delving.
- to sink a well in the ground
- As was the case with the City & South London, powers were taken to sink shafts from temporary staging in the river, about 240 ft. from the south bank, from which to begin boring the tunnels, and the first pile for the staging was driven on June 18, 1894.1958 August 23, T. S. Lascelles, “Diamond Jubilee of the Waterloo & City Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 518:
5
Ball games, Billiards, Games, Golf, Heading, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Pool, Snooker, Sports Physical To pot; hit a ball into a pocket or hole.
- 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.2008, Edward Keating, The Joy of Ex: A Novel:
› To diminish or be diminished.
6
Heading Figuratively, Of the heart or spirit To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or momentary depression.
- 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.’1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 34:
- 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.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
1 more example
- Peter's heart sank. "Don't you think it is dreadful?" he asked.1915, Thornton W. Burgess, chapter XIX, in The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company:
7
Heading Figuratively To cause to decline; to depress or degrade.
- to sink one's reputation
- And if I have a conscience, let it sink me1613 (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
1 more example
- Thy cruel and unnatural lust of power / Has sunk thy father more than all his years.1700, Nicholas Rowe, The Ambitious Stepmother, act II, scene ii:
8
Heading To demean or lower oneself; to do something below one's status, standards, or morals.
- Who would sink so low as to steal change from veterans?2013 April 24, Steve Henschel, Niagara This Week:
- 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.1726, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels:
- 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 […]1849 December 15, Frederick William Robertson, Sermon 14, “The Principle of Spiritual Harvest”
11
Slang To drink (especially something alcoholic).
- So let's sink another drink / 'Cause it'll give me time to think1981 January 23, Billy Idol, Tony James, “Dancing with Myself”, in Kiss Me Deadly, performed by Generation X:
- […] 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.2021, Barbara Copperthwaite, The Girl in the Missing Poster:
12
Slang To pay absolutely.
- I have sunk thousands of pounds into this project.
- 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.2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian:
14
To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fail in strength.
- I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- 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'd1721, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry:
15
Archaic To die.
- 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.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:
- […] 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.1956, Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929–1945, volume 1, page 174:
16
To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.
- The Alps and Pyreneans sink before him: / Through wind and waves, and storms he works his waya. 1746, Joseph Addison, The Tragedy of Cato, act I, scene i:
- 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.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- countersink, like a rat from a sinking ship, loose lips sink ships, resink, sinkable, sinkage, sinkant, sinkbox, sinker, sinkful, sink in, sinking fund, sinking head, sinking pump, sinking ship, sink like a stone, sink one's teeth in, into, sink or swim, sinky, slop sink, unsinkability, unsinkable