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kink

Pronunciation: /ˈkɪŋk/

The English word “kink” has 12 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To laugh loudly.
  2. To gasp for breath as in a severe fit of coughing.
  3. To form a kink or twist.
  4. To be formed into a kink or twist.

noun

  1. A convulsive fit of coughing or laughter; a sonorous indraft of breath; a whoop; a gasp of breath caused by laughing, coughing, or crying.
  2. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of thin material, hair etc.
  3. A difficulty or flaw that is likely to impede operation, as in a plan or system.
  4. An unreasonable notion; a crotchet; a whim; a caprice.
  5. Peculiarity or deviation in sexual behaviour or taste.
  6. A person with peculiar sexual tastes.
  7. Any sexual preference outside normal or expected norms.
  8. A positive 1-soliton solution to the sine-Gordon equation.

Etymology

From Middle English kinken, kynken, from Old English *cincian (attested in cincung), from Proto-West Germanic *kinkōn, from Proto-Germanic *kinkōną (“to laugh”), from Proto-Indo-European *gang- (“to mock, jeer, deride”), related to Old English canc (“jeering, scorn, derision”). Cognate with Dutch kinken (“to kink, cough”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.