sink
(sɪŋk )
Word forms: sinks , sinking , sank , sunk
1. countable noun A2
A sink is a large fixed container in a kitchen, with taps to supply water. It is mainly used for washing dishes.
The sink was full of dirty dishes.
...the kitchen sink.
Synonyms: basin, washbasin, hand basin, wash-hand basin
2. countable noun A2
A sink is the same as a washbasin or , basin.
The bathroom is furnished with 2 toilets, 2 showers, and 2 sinks.
3. verb B1
If a boat sinks or if someone or something sinks it, it disappears below the surface of a mass of water.
In a naval battle your aim is to sink the enemy's ship. [VERB noun]
The boat was beginning to sink fast. [VERB]
The lifeboat crashed against the side of the sinking ship. [VERB-ing]
Synonyms: go down, founder, go under, submerge
sinking Word forms: sinkings countable noun
...the sinking of the Titanic. [+ of]
4. verb B1+
If something sinks, it disappears below the surface of a mass of water.
A fresh egg will sink and an old egg will float. [VERB]
5. verb B2
If something sinks, it moves slowly downwards.
Far off to the west the sun was sinking. [VERB]
When they came to build the southern spire the foundations began to sink. [VERB]
Synonyms: descend, lower, go down, dip
6. verb B2
If you sink, you move into a lower position, for example by sitting down in a chair or kneeling. [written]
Kate laughed, and sank down again to her seat. [VERB adverb/preposition]
She sank into an armchair and crossed her legs. [VERB adverb/preposition]
'Don't you understand?' I moaned, sinking dramatically to my knees. [VERB adverb/preposition]
Synonyms: slump, drop, flop, collapse
7. verb B2
If something sinks to a lower level or standard, it falls to that level or standard.
Share prices would have sunk–hurting small and big investors. [VERB]
Pay increases have sunk to around seven per cent. [V + to/from/by]
The pound sank by nearly one per cent against the US dollar. [VERB amount]
Synonyms: fall, drop, decline, slip
8. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
People use sink school or sink estate to refer to a school or housing estate that is in a very poor area with few resources. [British, journalism]
...unemployed teenagers from sink estates.
He has transformed the local sink schools into beacons of hope for parents and children.
9. verb
If your voice sinks, it becomes quieter. [written]
Her voice sank, and he moved closer to catch what she was saying. [VERB]
Her voice had sunk to a whisper. [V to/into n]
Synonyms: drop, fall, get lower, get softer
10. verb
To sink into an unpleasant or undesirable mood, situation, or state means to pass gradually into it. [written]
She'd sometimes sink into depression. [VERB into noun]
That night he sank into a deep coma. [VERB into noun]
Bulgaria's economy has sunk into chaos. [VERB into noun]
11. verb
If your heart or your spirits sink, you become depressed or lose hope.
My heart sank because I thought he was going to dump me for another girl. [VERB]
Her spirits sank lower and lower. [VERB]
12. verb
If something sharp sinks or is sunk into something solid, it goes deeply into it.
He sinks the needle into my arm. [VERB noun into noun]
I sank my teeth into a peppermint cream. [VERB noun + into]
The spade sank into a clump of overgrown bushes. [VERB + into]
13. verb
If someone sinks a well, mine, or other large hole, they make a deep hole in the ground, usually by digging or drilling.
...the site where Stephenson sank his first mineshaft. [VERB noun]
If they carry on sinking boreholes then the land is likely to subside. [VERB noun]
...a one-thousand foot deep hole sunk into the rock. [VERB-ed]
Synonyms: dig, bore, drill, drive
14. verb
If you sink money into a business or project, you spend money on it in the hope of making more money.
He has already sunk $25 million into the project. [VERB noun + into]
Synonyms: invest, put in, plough, risk
15. verb
If someone sinks a number of alcoholic drinks, they drink them quickly. [British, informal]
She sank two glasses of white wine. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: drink, down [informal], knock back, neck [slang]
16. verb
In golf, snooker, and some other games, if you sink a ball or a putt, you successfully hit the ball into a hole.
He sank two crucial putts in the last three holes. [VERB noun]
17. See also sinking, sunk
18. sink or swim phrase
If you say that someone will have to sink or swim, you mean that they will have to succeed through their own efforts, or fail.
The government doesn't want to force inefficient firms to sink or swim too quickly.
It was very much sink or swim.
19. to sink without trace phrase
If you say that someone or something sinks without trace or sinks without a trace, you mean that they stop existing or stop being successful very suddenly and completely.
His party has sunk without trace at these elections.
Pop groups are like Olympic swimmers–they hit gold once, then they sink without trace.
Phrasal verbs:
sink in
phrasal verb
When a statement or fact sinks in, you finally understand or realize it fully.
The implication took a while to sink in. [VERB PARTICLE]
Vocabulary Builder
THE KITCHEN sink oven hob microwave spotlight fridge-freezer tap cupboard draining board drawer worktop tiles Idioms:
everything but the kitchen sink
very many things, many of which are unnecessary
When she goes on a picnic , she always wants to take everything but the kitchen sink.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
leave someone to sink or swim
to leave someone to do something on their own, with their success or failure depending entirely on their own efforts or abilities
The sad part is that many of these wounded soldiers have been left to sink or swim on their own after serving their country.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Collocations:
sink a well sink slowly sinking vessel stainless steel sink sun sinks
Why anyone would sink a well at the top of a hill, and how you would draw water from it, are questions in need of answers.
The Times Literary Supplement
He had had to sink a well to stay in business.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The company sank a well two years ago to assess whether the surrounding rock might be suitable for fracking.
Times, Sunday Times
He built a house on the upper terrace, and sank a well.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Services of deep-sea divers were utilized for sinking the well through this stratum, by under-water blasting.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They sink slowly, head first, with a remarkably lifelike twist of the tail as they submerge.
Times, Sunday Times
Leave me to sink slowly into the swamp.
Times, Sunday Times
Plugs can also be designed to hover (neutral buoyancy), sink slowly, or sink rapidly.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Even when badly damaged, they generally sink slowly through the air rather than crash.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
She remained afloat upside down for about 30 minutes, then began to sink slowly in about 180 ft of water.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Another appeared, with two people traffickers on board, but they also ignored the sinking vessel and returned to shore.
Times, Sunday Times
Two torpedoes hit, but the sinking vessel bravely turned towards the submarine, forcing her to evade and lose range on the second freighter.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The rough seas caused the ships keel to break, causing the crewmen to send a distress signal and evacuate the sinking vessel.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They had gotten to this small rock by means of a mast they had cut away from the sinking vessel.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Goodbye to the stainless steel sink with disposal unit Jake had insisted on having installed before they moved in.
DEATH IN FASHION
A loo with a lid stood in the corner and there was a double stainless steel sink along one wall.
The Sun (2010)
He was thrown onto a stainless steel sink in the kitchen and watched electricity surge from his hand.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Hard-water deposits can leave a powdery look and feel on a stainless steel sink.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
As the sun sank they sprayed a huge arc of water over the ice with the fire hose.
LOOKING FOR THE SPARK (2003)
The landscape was turning a leaden grey as the sun sank behind the mountains.
THE ZANZIBAR CHEST: A Memoir of Love and War (2003)
Gradually I was aware of the sun sinking and the heat going out of the day.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Translations:
Chinese: 水池, 下沉
Japanese: シンク, 膿瘻
- announce a verdict
- announce a withdrawal
- announced a restructuring
- announce detail
- announcement
- announcement came
- announcement marks
- announce officially
- announce publicly
- announcer
- announcer reads
- announcer says
- announce the creation of
- announce the discovery of
- announce the formation of
- announce the launch of
- announce the news
- announce the winner
- annoy
- annoyance
- annoyed
- annoying
- annoying habit
- annoyingly
- annual