to displace part of the volume of a supporting substance or object and become totally or partially submerged or enveloped; fall or descend into or below the surface or to the bottom (often followed by in or into): The battleship sank within two hours. His foot sank in the mud. Her head sinks into the pillows.
2.
to fall, drop, or descend gradually to a lower level: The river sank two feet during the dry spell.
3.
to settle or fall gradually, as a heavy structure: The tower is slowly sinking.
4.
to fall or collapse slowly from weakness, fatigue, distress, etc.: He gasped and sank to his knees.
5.
to slope downward; dip: The field sinks toward the highway.
to cause to become submerged or enveloped; force into or below the surface; cause to plunge in or down: The submarine sank the battleship. He sank his fist into the pillow.
19.
to cause to fall, drop, or descend gradually.
20.
to cause to penetrate: to sink an ax into a tree trunk.
21.
to lower or depress the level of: They sank the roadway by five feet.
22.
to bury, plant, or lay (a pipe, conduit, etc.) into or as if into the ground.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
to do or enter into with great enthusiasm, concentration, conviction, etc.: to sink my teeth into solving the problem.
Origin: before 1000; (v.) Middle English sinken,Old English sincan; cognate with Dutch zinken,German sinken,Old Norse sǫkkva,Gothic singkwan; (noun) late Middle English: cesspool, derivative of the v.
A part of the physical environment, or more generally any physical system, that absorbs some form of matter or energy. For example, a forest acts as a sink for carbon dioxide because it absorbs more of the gas in photosynthesis than it releases in respiration. Coral reefs are a long-lasting sink for carbon, which they sequester in their skeletons in the form of calcium carbonate.
tv. to swallow some food or drink. : Larry stopped at a tavern to sink a short one.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source