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

Enough time for a detail-oriented TV producer to spot that Salman, Pakistan's skipper, sported a kink in his collar.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 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

The rise of AI-generated images and photos has added another troubling kink, as Sterling highlighted in a video posted to TikTok early Thursday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025

Then we bend our necks with a curious kink Like the bend which the plumber puts under the sink.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Nasa is set to send humans deeper into space than ever before, but there's one piece of technology that still has some kinks - the Orion space capsule's toilet.

From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026

Google admitted that there are still major kinks that need to be ironed out.

From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026

They need to work out the kinks on the practice range.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2025

Companies are also having a tough time working out kinks in their hardware.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 27, 2025

The sergeant major sits up and tilts his head back and forth as though working out kinks in his neck.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Related Words

• flaw
• hitch
• imperfection