slink
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
verb
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(intr) to move or act in a furtive or cringing manner from or as if from fear, guilt, etc
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(intr) to move in a sinuous alluring manner
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(tr) (of animals, esp cows) to give birth to prematurely
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slinksimple
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slinkssimple
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have slunkperfect
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has slunkperfect
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am slinkingprogressive
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are slinkingprogressive
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is slinkingprogressive
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have been slinkingperfect progressive
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has been slinkingperfect progressive
Past
-
slanksimple
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slunksimple
-
had slunkperfect
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was slinkingprogressive
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were slinkingprogressive
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had been slinkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slink
First recorded before 1150; Middle English slynken (verb), Old English slincan “to creep, crawl”; cognate with Low German slinken, German schlinken
Explanation
When you slink, you move in a deliberately quiet and sneaky way. You might slink into your physics class, hoping the teacher won't notice how late you are. Kids playing hide and seek will sometimes slink around the house, quietly searching for good hiding spots, and wild animals tend to slink through the woods or fields when they're stalking prey or trying to avoid becoming prey themselves. Slink comes from the Old English word slincan, "to creep or crawl," which was mostly used to describe the movements of reptiles.
Vocabulary lists containing slink
Stargirl
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The Wild Robot
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Because of Mr. Terupt
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Every now and then, he watched people pull into the gas station and slink back in the car for their drive of shame.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 3, 2026
Do you slink away and count on the courts to sort it out?
From Salon • May 13, 2025
"I tried to slink away and he was reeling me back," Annie says.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2025
A national punchline, Garvey was forced to slink out of the limelight.
From Slate • May 29, 2024
Finally I slink off to the drugstore with some pee in a bottle, feeling like a criminal.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
