Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - sink

(sinks, sinking, sank, sunk) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. 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. N-COUNT 2. A sink is the same as a washbasin or basin. The bathroom is furnished with 2 toilets, 2 showers, and 2 sinks. N-COUNT 3. 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... The boat was beginning to sink fast... The lifeboat crashed against the side of the sinking ship. VERB: V n, V, V-ing • sinking (sinkings) ...the sinking of the Titanic. N-COUNT 4. If something sinks, it disappears below the surface of a mass of water. A fresh egg will sink and an old egg will float. ? float VERB: V 5. If something sinks, it moves slowly downwards. Far off to the west the sun was sinking... VERB: V 6. 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... Pay increases have sunk to around seven per cent... The pound had sunk 10 per cent against the Schilling. = fall VERB: V, V to/from/by amount/n, V amount 7. 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. (BRIT JOURNALISM) ...unemployed teenagers from sink estates... ADJ: ADJ n 8. 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: V 9. If something sharp sinks or is sunk into something solid, it goes deeply into it. I sank my teeth into a peppermint cream... The spade sank into a clump of overgrown bushes. VERB: V n into n, V into n 10. 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: V n 11. 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 $25million into the project. = plough VERB: V n into n 12. see also sinking, sunk 13. 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... to sink without trace: see trace PHRASE