Dictionary entries for 'sink'

Synonyms

sink (sĭngk)

[Middle English sinken, from Old English sincan.]

verb: sank (săngk) or sunk (sŭngk), sunk, sink·ing, sinks.

To descend to the bottom; submerge.
1. To fall or drop to a lower level, especially to go down slowly or in stages: The water in the lake sank several feet during the long, dry summer.
2. To subside or settle gradually, as a massive or weighty structure.
To appear to move downward, as the sun or moon in setting.
To slope downward; incline.
To pass into a specified condition: She sank into a deep sleep.
1. To deteriorate in quality or condition: The patient is sinking fast. The family sank into a state of disgrace.
2. To diminish, as in value.
To become weaker, quieter, or less forceful: His voice sank to a whisper.
1. To drop or fall slowly, as from weakness or fatigue: The exhausted runner sank to the ground.
2. To feel great disappointment or discouragement: Her heart sank within her.
To seep or soak; penetrate: The water is sinking into the ground.
To make an impression; become felt or understood: The meaning finally sank in.

To cause to descend beneath a surface: sink a ship.
To cause to drop or lower: sank the bucket into the well.
To force into the ground: sink a piling.
To dig or drill (a mine or well) in the earth.
To occupy the full attention of; engross.
1. To make weaker, quieter, or less forceful.
2. To reduce in quantity or worth.
To debase the nature of; degrade.
To bring to a low or ruined state; defeat or destroy.
To suppress or hide: He sank his arrogance and apologized.
Informal To defeat, as in a game.
1. To invest: sink money into a new housing project.
2. To invest without any prospect of return.
To pay off (a debt).
Sports To get (a ball) into a hole or basket.

A water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe and generally a piped supply of water.
A cesspool.
A sinkhole.
A natural or artificial means of absorbing or removing a substance or a form of energy from a system.
A place regarded as wicked and corrupt.