sinker

American  

[sing-ker] / ˈsɪŋ kər /

noun

1. a person or thing that sinks.

2. a person employed in sinking, as one who sinks shafts.

3. a weight, as of lead, for sinking a fishing line or net below the surface of the water.

4. Slang. a doughnut or, sometimes, a biscuit or muffin.

5. Also called sinkerball.  Baseball. a fastball that curves downward sharply as it reaches the plate.

6. diesinker.

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sinker British  

/ ˈsɪŋkə /

noun

1. a weight attached to a fishing line, net, etc, to cause it to sink in water

2. a person who sinks shafts, etc

3. an informal word for doughnut

4. See hook

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sinker Idioms  

1. see hook, line, and sinker.

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Other Word Forms

• sinkerless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sinker

First recorded in 1520–30; 1870–75 in the sense “doughnut“; 1930–35 in the baseball sense; sink + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sinker

And in a two-strike count, he stayed inside a sinker to launch his two-run blast to left-center field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

In the sixth, Teoscar Hernández tacked on two more runs with an opposite-field home run after an errant sinker from Kochanowicz.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2026

Opposing batters knew that almost everything Soriano threw would be down in the zone, whether it was a sinker, splitter or curveball.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026

These rulings have adopted Scalia’s historical account hook, line, and sinker.

From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2025

I put on a good-sized sinker and dropped into the white water close to the edge of the timbers of the dam.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Related Words

• bun
• pastry