ink

[ ingk ]

/ ɪŋk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ink ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a fluid or viscous substance used for writing or printing.

a dark, protective fluid ejected by the cuttlefish and other cephalopods.

Informal. publicity, especially in print media: Their construction plans got some ink in the local paper.

verb (used with object)

to mark, stain, cover, or smear with ink: to ink one's clothes.

Slang. to sign one's name to (an official document): We expect to ink the contract tomorrow.

Nearby words

injurious, injury, injury list, injury time, injustice, ink, ink ball, ink fountain, ink in, ink jet, ink sac

Origin of ink

1200–50; Middle English inke, enke < Old French enque < Late Latin encautum, variant of encaustum < Greek énkauston purple ink, noun use of neuter of énkaustos burnt in. See encaustic

Related forms

ink·er, nounink·less, adjectiveink·like, adjectivere·ink, verb (used with object)

un·inked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ink

The edges of the elegant paper are crackled; the ink bled into the linen weave long ago and has not faded.
How Gettysburg Did Not Unlock the Past|Laird Hunt|September 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A lot of ink will continue to be spilled about the first-order problems surrounding that fact.
The Rhinohawks Come Roaring Back|James Poulos|September 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His ink ranges from images of his children to the Superman logo (that one seems especially fitting given his leaping blocks).
Team USA Lost, but Tim Howard Is a Winner|Emily Shire|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nor does the suggestion that her justified complaints about pay inequity played no part in her ouster hold much printer's ink.
The Hypocrisy Behind The New York Times’s Abrupt Decapitation of Jill Abramson|Robert Shrum|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Unfortunately, the papyrus was too fragile to allow for carbon testing of the ink.
The ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ is Still as Big a Mystery as Ever|Candida Moss|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Here a name had been painstakingly obliterated, as if by afterthought, the very paper being gouged through with ink.
The Plunderer|Roy Norton
The color of the ink used by the forger was not the same as that in the signature.
The Scarlet Feather|Houghton Townley
The mosquitoes 412 trouble me so much that in driving them away I bespatter my paper with ink, as thou seest, God bless thee!
Audubon and his Journals, Volume I (of 2)|Maria R. Audubon
When the weather is dull, the Normans have a sober English sky, abounding in Indian ink and neutral tint.
Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. I. (of 2)|Dawson Turner
The truth is that the ink was hardly dry on the early treaties before the discriminations began.
Where Half The World Is Waking Up|Clarence Poe

British Dictionary definitions for ink

ink

/ (ɪŋk) /

noun

a fluid or paste used for printing, writing, and drawing

a dark brown fluid ejected into the water for self-concealment by an octopus or related mollusc from a gland (ink sac) near the anus

verb (tr)

to mark with ink

to coat (a printing surface) with ink

Derived Forms

inker, noun

Word Origin for ink

C13: from Old French enque, from Late Latin encaustum a purplish-red ink, from Greek enkauston purple ink, from enkaustos burnt in, from enkaiein to burn in; see en- ², caustic

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