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kitchen-sink

[kich-uh n-singk]
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adjective
  1. marked by an indiscriminate and omnivorous use of elements: a kitchen-sink approach to moviemaking.

Origin of kitchen-sink

First recorded in 1940–45

kitchen sink

noun
  1. the final item imaginable on any extensive list of usually disparate items: He packed everything for his trip except the kitchen sink.

Origin of kitchen sink

1870–75, for literal sense
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for kitchen-sink

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Am I nothing but a dust-bin or kitchen-sink for other people's troubles?

    More Trivia

    Logan Pearsall Smith

  • The foul odors of the kitchen-sink added to the night of horrors.

  • The kitchen-sink arrangements are not altogether satisfactory.

    Convenient Houses

    Louis Henry Gibson

British Dictionary definitions for kitchen-sink

kitchen sink

noun
  1. a sink in a kitchen for washing dishes, vegetables, etc
  2. everything but the kitchen sink everything that can be conceived of
  3. (modifier) denoting a type of drama or painting of the 1950s depicting the sordid aspects of domestic reality
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kitchen-sink

kitchen sink

n.

attested by 1824. Phrase everything but (or and) the kitchen sink is 1944, from World War II armed forces slang, in reference to intense bombardment.

Out for blood, our Navy throws everything but the kitchen sink at Jap vessels, warships and transports alike. [Shell fuel advertisement, "Life," Jan. 24, 1944]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper