sinkable

sink  (sngk)

v. sank (sngk) or sunk (sngk), sunk, sink·ing, sinks

v.intr.

1. To descend to the bottom; submerge.

2.

a. 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.

b. To subside or settle gradually, as a massive or weighty structure.

3. To appear to move downward, as the sun or moon in setting.

4. To slope downward; incline.

5. To pass into a specified condition: She sank into a deep sleep.

6.

a. To deteriorate in quality or condition: The patient is sinking fast. The family sank into a state of disgrace.

b. To diminish, as in value.

7. To become weaker, quieter, or less forceful: His voice sank to a whisper.

8.

a. To drop or fall slowly, as from weakness or fatigue: The exhausted runner sank to the ground.

b. To feel great disappointment or discouragement: Her heart sank within her.

9. To seep or soak; penetrate: The water is sinking into the ground.

10. To make an impression; become felt or understood: The meaning finally sank in.

v.tr.

1. To cause to descend beneath a surface: sink a ship.

2. To cause to drop or lower: sank the bucket into the well.

3. To force into the ground: sink a piling.

4. To dig or drill (a mine or well) in the earth.

5. To occupy the full attention of; engross.

6.

a. To make weaker, quieter, or less forceful.

b. To reduce in quantity or worth.

7. To debase the nature of; degrade.

8. To bring to a low or ruined state; defeat or destroy.

9. To suppress or hide: He sank his arrogance and apologized.

10. Informal To defeat, as in a game.

11.

a. To invest: sink money into a new housing project.

b. To invest without any prospect of return.

12. To pay off (a debt).

13. Sports To get (a ball) into a hole or basket.

n.

1. A water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe and generally a piped supply of water.

2. A cesspool.

3. A sinkhole.

4. A natural or artificial means of absorbing or removing a substance or a form of energy from a system.

5. A place regarded as wicked and corrupt.

Idiom:

sink or swim Informal

To fail or succeed without alternative.

---

[Middle English sinken, from Old English sincan.]

---

sinka·ble adj.

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

sinkable - capable of being sunk unsinkable - incapable of being sunk; "they thought the Titanic was unsinkable"