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sinker

[ sing-ker ]
/ ˈsɪŋ kər /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sinker ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that sinks.
a person employed in sinking, as one who sinks shafts.
a weight, as of lead, for sinking a fishing line or net below the surface of the water.
Slang. a doughnut or, sometimes, a biscuit or muffin.
Also called sinkerball. Baseball. a pitched ball that curves downward sharply as it reaches the plate.

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RELATED WORDS

pressure, bun, pastry, counterpoise, stone, plumb, mass, counterbalance, rock, bob, anchor, ballast, sandbag, pendulum, poundage, counterweight, Danish, cruller, dunker

Nearby words

  1. sink in,
  2. sink one's teeth into,
  3. sink or swim,
  4. sink through the floor,
  5. sinkage,
  6. sinkerball,
  7. sinkhole,
  8. sinkiang-uighur autonomous region,
  9. sinking,
  10. sinking feeling, a

Origin of sinker

1520–30; 1920–25 for def 4; 1925–30 for def 5; sink + -er1
Related formssink·er·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sinker

British Dictionary definitions for sinker

sinker

/ (ˈsɪŋkə) /

noun

a weight attached to a fishing line, net, etc, to cause it to sink in water
a person who sinks shafts, etc
US an informal word for doughnut
hook, line, and sinker See hook (def. 18)
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 sinker

sinker

n.

1838 in the fishing-line sense, agent noun from sink (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with sinker

sinker

see hook, line, and sinker.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.