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sink

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪŋk/

The English word “sink” has 20 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
  2. To (directly or indirectly) cause a vessel to sink, generally by making it no longer watertight.
  3. To push (something) into something.
  4. To make by digging or delving.
  5. To pot; hit a ball into a pocket or hole.
  6. To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or momentary depression.
  7. To cause to decline; to depress or degrade.
  8. To demean or lower oneself; to do something below one's status, standards, or morals.
  9. To conceal and appropriate.
  10. To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.
  11. To drink (especially something alcoholic).
  12. To pay absolutely.
  13. To reduce or extinguish by payment.
  14. To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fail in strength.
  15. To die.
  16. To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.

noun

  1. A basin used for holding water for washing.
  2. A drain for carrying off wastewater.
  3. A sinkhole.
  4. A depression in land where water collects, with no visible outlet.

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.

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