slink
Americanverb (used without object)
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slinks,
present (3rd person singular)
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slunk,
past participle, past
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slank,
past (Archaic)
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slinking
present participle
verb (used with object)
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slinks,
present (3rd person singular)
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slunk,
past participle, past
-
slank,
past (Archaic)
-
slinking
present participle
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
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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.
See Examples For:
But each time the net seemed to be closing in on Neukgu, he would slink off the radar.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
“They slink in without warning, do no immediate damage so far as one can tell and then begin their deadly work from within….”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
But for now, museum members could slink about the echoing halls of L.A.’s newest landmark and ponder the possibilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2025
A national punchline, Garvey was forced to slink out of the limelight.
From Slate ● May 29, 2024
Kevin Hennessey’s laughter is as blunt and heavy as a boot while he watches Daryl Williams slink away from the table his ridicule has forced him to vacate.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
He slinks along a wall, scales a cliff, navigates drain pipes and leaps up and down from his preferred perch—behind the left shoulder of Din Djarin, aka the Mandalorian warrior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
If anyone can drag an art-house phenomenon into the mainstream, it’s Léa Seydoux, who pockets “Dune” and James Bond movies whenever she slinks on screen.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
Tara just slinks away into a depressive state that barely anyone notices.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
The suave Morales slinks through the film making his unflappable villain alluring.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2023
She slinks down off her stool and disappears behind a rack of fur-lined leggings.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
German carp slank into his yard, began to feed upon the carrots, the asparagus.
From Time Magazine Archive
First the buttons: thack-thack; then the lever: slank.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hallowell slank back in his chair, shaking his head.
From Vera, the Medium by Richard Harding Davis
The rear was even worse, as men slank off from it at every opportunity.
From The War With the United States : A Chronicle of 1812 by H. H. (Hugh Hornby) Langton
Dr. Merrick took them up, and slank noiselessly from the room, murmuring as he went some inarticulate words to the effect that he had only desired to serve her.
From The Woman Who Did by Grant Allen
Afterward, with the help of remaining friends, he slunk off to the U.S. in 1876, where he taught in Massachusetts for a while, then took up as a freelance newspaper writer in Chicago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
This is what first slunk out of Paul’s imagination: “A man dressed as a bat sitting in a hot tub full of mashed potatoes.”
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2025
Keepers realised within minutes the springer spaniel-sized rodent had slunk off to an adjacent area of long grass and woodland, and began to stake it out.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2024
Indexes were close to flat early in the day, but slunk lower after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its last policy meeting.
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2024
Red’s eyes blazed with hatred, but he turned and slunk into the house.
From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine
The hush-hush raves that require knowing someone and slinking into condemned warehouses have always happened alongside parties thrown by big-name promoters.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
The album was “Transference,” its cover a grainy seventies tableau — a boy slinking low in a golden wingback chair, viridian curtains pooling behind him, a table lamp casting an almost aggressively orange glow.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2025
Even “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” that musical behemoth slinking from stadiums to screen, commands a rigorous 2 hours and 48.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2023
But the actor has no intention of slinking away, instead saying he refuses to “lay down” and accept that “it’s over.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
He was uneasy and disturbed by the slinking gray shape that merged into the undergrowth every time he looked back to snarl at it.
From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford
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.
