sink

1 past tense sank, or sunk verb

1 IN WATER

a) (I) to go down below the surface of water, mud etc: The Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. | If you put it in water, will it float or sink? | The heavy guns sank up to their barrels in the mud.

b) (T) to damage a ship so badly that it sinks: Three ships were sunk that night by enemy torpedoes.

2 MOVE LOWER (I)

a) to move downwards to a lower level: It was several days before the flood waters sank and life returned to normal. | Her head sank onto her chest as she dozed off in her chair.

b) to fall down or sit down heavily, especially because you are very tired and weak

(+ into/on/down etc): Sinking down on the bed, she tried to collect her thoughts. | sink to your knees (=fall into a kneeling position): The prisoner sank to his knees, begging for mercy.

3 SUN/MOON (I) to move downwards in the sky, and disappear from sight: The sun was sinking behind the coconut palms.

4 CHANGE/GET WORSE (intransitive always + adv/prep) to gradually pass into a different state, especially one that is worse: sink into crisis/despair/decay etc: The Soviet economy was sinking deeper and deeper into crisis. | neglected buildings sinking into decay | be sinking fast (=getting weaker and about to die): By this time, she was sinking fast and there was little we could do for her.

5 LOWER AMOUNT/VALUE (I) to go down in amount or value: The population had sunk to a few dozen families. | efforts by the central banks to prop up the sinking dollar

6 QUIET (I) if your voice sinks you start talking more quietly: Holmes's voice sank as he revealed the truth about the murders. | sink into silence: moaning and crying out in pain, and finally sinking into silence.

7 your heart sinks/your spirits sink to lose hope or confidence, especially when you feel unable to do everything that you have to do: The journey seemed never-ending, and her spirits sank lower. | I realized, with a sinking heart, that I had forgotten to post that vital letter.

8 that sinking feeling informal the unpleasant feeling that you get when you suddenly realize that something bad is going to happen: I had that sinking feeling you get when you know you've made a huge mistake.

9 be sunk

a) informal to be in a situation when you are certain to fail or have a lot of problems: If we can't find a taxi we'll really be sunk.

b) be sunk in gloom/misery/apathy etc to be so unhappy, tired etc that you feel completely unable to improve your situation: He wandered around aimlessly all day, then returned home sunk in gloom.

10 sink without trace

a) if a ship sinks without trace, it sinks and no one knows where it has sunk

b) if someone sinks without trace, they disappear mysteriously and you never hear about them again: Actors who quarrelled with their studios just seemed to sink without trace.

11 sink so low/sink to doing sth to be dishonest enough or selfish enough to do something very bad or unfair: Cheating his own sister - how could he have sunk so low?

12 sink your teeth/claws/knife etc into sth to put your teeth or something sharp into someone's flesh, into food etc: The dog sank its teeth into my arm.

13 sink a well/hole/mine etc to dig a deep hole in the ground

14 MONEY (T) to lend or spend a lot of money on a business, in the hope of making more money in the future; invest: sink sth in/into: They had sunk most of their savings into a property venture.

15 BALL (T) to hit a ball into a hole in games such as golf or snooker

16 sink your differences to agree to stop arguing and forget about your disagreements, especially in order to unite and oppose someone else

17 sink or swim to succeed or fail without help from anyone else: They don't give you a lot of guidance - you're just left to sink or swim, really.

18 DRINK (T) BrE informal to drink alcohol, especially in large quantities: We sank a few pints at the pub first.

sink in phrasal verb (I) if information, facts etc sink in, you gradually understand them or realize their full meaning: For a moment her words didn't sink in. | The stupidity of what I had done began to sink in with an awful finality. 2 noun (C)

1 BrE a large open container, especially in a kitchen, that you fill with water and use for washing dishes etc: Dirty plates were piled high in the sink.

2 AmE an open container in a kitchen or bathroom that you can fill with water and use for washing yourself, washing dishes etc

—see also: everything but the kitchen sink everything (6)