kink

American  

[kingk] / kɪŋk /

noun

• kinks
  plural

1. a twist or curl, as in a thread, rope, wire, or hair, caused by its doubling or bending upon itself.

   The kink in the hose was restricting the water flow.

2. a muscular stiffness or soreness, as in the neck or back.

   The kink in my neck was making it difficult to turn my head at all.

3. a flaw or imperfection likely to hinder the successful operation of something, such as a machine or plan.

   There are still a few kinks to be worked out of the design before we start production.

4. Slang.

   1. unconventional sexual preferences or behavior collectively.

   2. a particular sexual preference or behavior that is unconventional.

   3. a person characterized by such preferences or behavior; kinkster.

5. a mental twist; notion; whim.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to form or cause to form a twist or curl, as in a rope.

   The high tensile steel wire ensures the product will not kink in the sharpest bend.

kink British  

/ kɪŋk /

noun

1. a sharp twist or bend in a wire, rope, hair, etc, esp one caused when it is pulled tight

2. a crick in the neck or similar muscular spasm

3. a flaw or minor difficulty in some undertaking or project

4. a flaw or idiosyncrasy of personality; quirk

5. informal a sexual deviation

6. a clever or unusual idea

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verb

1. to form or cause to form a kink

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unkink
  verb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• kinks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of kink

First recorded in 1670–80; from Dutch: “a twist in a rope”; perhaps akin to kick ( def. )

Explanation

A kink is a bend or a twist in an otherwise straight line, like a kink in a garden hose that blocks water from flowing freely. When something kinks, it bends to form a kink or curl — if your hair kinks in the rain, it gets tightly curly. You can also have a kink in your neck, a tight muscle that cramps painfully. Yet another kind of kink is a problem, complication, or weakness in a plan: "The major kink in her plan turned out to be that no one was interested in buying hand-knitted cat sweaters."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kink kinks

The bird, affectionately nicknamed Kinky because of the kink in its broken wing, was nursed back to health by its two, unusually caring parents.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

One absentee, however, will be Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who has been ruled out with a "kink in his back", according to the Norwegian ski federation.

From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 2026

The voice that sang it was profound and strong, but quavering and not quite in tune: an old oak tree with a strong trunk but with branches starting to kink and leaves to wither.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

And now, his labrum surgery recovery has thrown another kink into those plans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2024

And at last they learned how these nobly born Siamese acquired the kink at the end of their tails and bequeathed it to all their descendants.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

Since then, the unlikely pairing have won more than half of their North West of Ireland league games - after ironing out a few kinks.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Other launch firms seeking to develop Falcon 9 alternatives are still working out some kinks.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Until the kinks are worked out, you never know what you’re going to find for passport lines when entering or leaving Europe, though one tool from a travel influencer aims to help.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

It’s taken Boeing a while to work out the kinks in Starliner.

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

“We’ve never completely mastered Sameness. I suppose the genetic scientists are still hard at work trying to work the kinks out. Hair like Fiona’s must drive them crazy.”

From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

Related Words

• flaw
• hitch
• imperfection