Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to sink
Participle: sunk
Gerund: sinking
Indicative
Present
| I | sink |
| you | sink |
| he;she;it | sinks |
| we | sink |
| you | sink |
| they | sink |
Perfect
| I | have sunk |
| you | have sunk |
| he;she;it | has sunk |
| we | have sunk |
| you | have sunk |
| they | have sunk |
Past
| I | sank |
| you | sank |
| he;she;it | sank |
| we | sank |
| you | sank |
| they | sank |
Pluperfect
| I | had sunk |
| you | had sunk |
| he;she;it | had sunk |
| we | had sunk |
| you | had sunk |
| they | had sunk |
Future
| I | will sink |
| you | will sink |
| he;she;it | will sink |
| we | will sink |
| you | will sink |
| they | will sink |
Future Perfect
| I | will have sunk |
| you | will have sunk |
| he;she;it | will have sunk |
| we | will have sunk |
| you | will have sunk |
| they | will have sunk |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | sink |
| you | sink |
| he;she;it | sink |
| we | sink |
| you | sink |
| they | sink |
Perfect
| I | have sunk |
| you | have sunk |
| he;she;it | have sunk |
| we | have sunk |
| you | have sunk |
| they | have sunk |
Imperfect
| I | sank |
| you | sank |
| he;she;it | sank |
| we | sank |
| you | sank |
| they | sank |
Pluperfect
| I | had sunk |
| you | had sunk |
| he;she;it | had sunk |
| we | had sunk |
| you | had sunk |
| they | had sunk |
Conditional
Present
| I | would sink |
| you | would sink |
| he;she;it | would sink |
| we | would sink |
| you | would sink |
| they | would sink |
Perfect
| I | would have sunk |
| you | would have sunk |
| he;she;it | would have sunk |
| we | would have sunk |
| you | would have sunk |
| they | would have sunk |
Imperative
| you | sink |
| we | Let's sink |
| you | sink |
Verbs conjugated like 'sink'
begin,
countersink,
drink,
ring,
sink,
swim,
becut,
downcut,
forecut,
foreset,
forset,
forshut,
forthcut,
forthfet,
forthput,
forthset,
newset,
nutshot,
offcut,
outcut, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'sink'
dink,
ink,
jink,
kink,
link,
oink,
pink,
shink,
sick,
silk,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to become smaller
- decrease, diminish, drop, fall, go down, lessen, reduce, shrink
- submerge
- immerse, dip, submerse, soak, swamp, scuttle, depress, overwhelm
- fall
- drop, descend, decline, dip, slump, lower, droop, regress
Antonyms
- fall
- rise, climb, soar, ascend
Additional Information
Etymology
1. O.E.
sincan "become submerged, go under" (past tense
sanc, pp.
suncen), from P.Gmc.
*senkwanan (cf. O.S.
sinkan, O.N.
sökkva, M.Du.
sinken, Du.
zinken, O.H.G.
sinkan, Ger.
sinken, Goth.
sigqan), from PIE base
*sengw- "to sink." The transitive use supplants M.E.
sench (cf.
drink/drench) which died out 14c.
Sinking fund is from 1724;
sinker in fishing line sense is from 1844. Adjective phrase
sink or swim is from 1668. To
sink without a trace is WWI military jargon, transl. Ger.
spurlos versenkt.
2. From Middle English synken, from Old English sincan, from Proto-West Germanic *sinkwan, from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to fall, sink”).
3. Compare West Frisian sinke, Low German sinken, Dutch zinken, German sinken, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål synke, Swedish sjunka. In the causative sense, it replaced Old English senċan (“make sink”) from Proto-Germanic *sankwijaną. See: Middle English '
synken', Old English '
sincan', Proto-Germanic '
*sinkwaną', Low Saxon 'sinken', Dutch '
zinken', German, old spelling '
sinken', Swedish '
sjunka'.
Verbs referencing "sink"
German, old spelling
sinken, Danish
synke, Norwegian
synke, Ido sinkar.
Sample Sentences
-
[...] The golden calf they worship at Boston is a pigmy compared with the giant effigies set up in other parts of that vast counting-house which lies beyond the Atlantic; and the almighty dollar sinks into something comparatively insignificant, amidst a whole Pantheon of better gods.
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
CHAPTER VI Discovery Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, after their protracted discussion of the night before, did not readily sink to repose, and, in consequence, slept somewhat later than usual, the ensuing morning.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] arch above us. As the sun went down behind the bank, the slightest blades of grass upon it seemed to become as distinctly visible as the arteries in the skeleton of a leaf; and when, as it slowly sank, the red and golden bars upon the water grew dimmer, and dimmer yet, as if they were sinking too; and all the glowing colours of departing day paled, inch by inch, before the sombre night; [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] to become as distinctly visible as the arteries in the skeleton of a leaf; and when, as it slowly sank, the red and golden bars upon the water grew dimmer, and dimmer yet, as if they were sinking too; and all the glowing colours of departing day paled, inch by inch, before the sombre night; the scene became a thousand times more lonesome and more dreary than before, and all its influences [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] than a couple of miles an hour, through one unbroken slough of black mud and water. It had no variety but in depth. Now it was only half over the wheels, now it hid the axletree, and now the coach sank down in it almost to the windows. The air resounded in all directions with the loud chirping of the frogs, who, with the pigs (a coarse, ugly breed, as unwholesome-looking as though they were the [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] ready to shoot him as he rose. In a few seconds he came up to breathe; and scarce had his head reached the surface of the water when it was completely riddled with the shot of their guns, and he sunk, to rise no more ! ’
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
“ These things sink into my heart, Tom, ” said Eva,—“they sink into my heart, ” she repeated, earnestly. “ I don't want to go; ” and she turned from Tom, and went into the house.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] the cradle, Alfred was an aristocrat; and as he grew up, instinctively, all his sympathies and all his reasonings were in that line, and all mother's exhortations went to the winds. As to me, they sunk deep into me. She never contradicted, in form, anything my father said, or seemed directly to differ from him; but she impressed, burnt into my very soul, with all the force of her deep, earnest [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
“ She can't teach her mischief; she might teach it to some children, but evil rolls off Eva's mind like dew off a cabbage-leaf,—not a drop sinks in. ”
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] even hear a sad story, when other poor creatures have nothing but pain and sorrow, all their lives; — it seems selfish. I ought to know such things, I ought to feel about them ! Such things always sunk into my heart; they went down deep; I 've thought and thought about them. Papa, isn't there any way to have all slaves made free ? ”
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)