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definitions

stank

[stangk]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stank ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense of stink.

stink

[stingk]

verb (used without object), stank or, often, stunk; stunk; stink·ing.

to emit a strong offensive smell.
to be offensive to honesty or propriety; to be in extremely bad repute or disfavor.
Informal. to be disgustingly inferior: That book stinks.
Slang. to have a large quantity of something (usually followed by of or with): They stink of money. She stinks with jewelry.

verb (used with object), stank or, often, stunk; stunk; stink·ing.

to cause to stink or be otherwise offensive (often followed by up): an amateurish performance that really stank up the stage.

noun

a strong offensive smell; stench.
Informal. an unpleasant fuss; scandal: There was a big stink about his accepting a bribe.
stinks, (used with a singular verb) British Slang. chemistry as a course of study.

Verb Phrases

stink out, to repel or drive out by means of a highly offensive smell.

Origin of stink

before 900; (v.) Middle English stinken, Old English stincan; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.; cognate with German stinken. (v.); cf. stench
Related formsout·stink, verb (used with object), out·stank or, often, out·stunk; out·stunk; out·stink·ing.

Synonyms for stink

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stink ON THESAURUS.COM
1. reek.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stank

smell, offend, reek, funk

Examples from the Web for stank

Contemporary Examples of stank

Historical Examples of stank

  • She started from the slaughter-houses, which stank of blood.

    L'Assommoir

    Emile Zola

  • Nowhere at any time has there been a metropolis that so stank to heaven.

    The Paliser case

    Edgar Saltus

  • This is why the name Corresponding Society stank in the nostrils of all rulers.

  • That they stank so abominably they overcame whole armies just with their smell.

  • The hold steamed like an oven, stank most offensively, and groaned with anguish.

    Sea-Dogs All!

    Tom Bevan

British Dictionary definitions for stank

stank

1

verb

a past tense of stink

stank

2

noun

a small cofferdam, esp one of timber made watertight with clay
Scot and Northern English dialect a pond or pool

verb

(tr) to make (a stream, cofferdam, etc) watertight, esp with clay

Word Origin for stank

C13: from Old French estanc, probably from estancher to stanch

stank

3

noun dialect

a drain, as in a roadway
a draining board adjacent to a sink unit

Word Origin for stank

special use of stank ² (in the sense: pool, pond)

stink

noun

a strong foul smell; stench
slang a great deal of trouble (esp in the phrase to make or raise a stink)
like stink intensely; furiously

verb stinks, stinking, stank, stunk or stunk (mainly intr)

to emit a foul smell
slang to be thoroughly bad or abhorrentthis town stinks
informal to have a very bad reputationhis name stinks
to be of poor quality
(foll by of or with) slang to have or appear to have an excessive amount (of money)
(tr usually foll by up) informal to cause to stink
See also stink out

Word Origin for stink

Old English stincan; related to Old Saxon stinkan, German stinken, Old Norse stökkva to burst; see stench
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 stank

past tense of sink (q.v.).

stink

v.

Old English stincan "emit a smell of any kind" (class III strong verb; past tense stonc), from West Germanic *stenkwanan (cf. Old Saxon stincan, Old High German stinkan, Dutch stinken), from the root of stench. Old English swote stincan "to smell sweet," but offensive sense began in Old English and was primary by mid-13c.; smell now tends the same way. Figurative meaning "be offensive" is from early 13c.; meaning "be inept" is recorded from 1924. To stink to high heaven first recorded 1963.

stink

n.

c.1300, from stink (v.). Sense of "extensive fuss" first recorded 1812.

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

stink

In addition to the idiom beginning with stink

  • stink to high heaven

also see:

  • big stink
  • make a stink
  • smell (stink) up
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.