stank

[ stangk ]

/ stæŋk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stank ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense of stink.

RELATED WORDS

smell, offend, reek, funk

Nearby words

stink

[ stingk ]

/ stɪŋk /

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

SYNONYMS FOR stink

1. reek.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stink ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stank

They had simple wit and no fashion sense, and they often stank of cheap beer and cheaper cologne.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Rednecks and Their Unjustly Unsung Kin|Allison Glock|August 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dickens knew no more of religious history than Kit; he simply smelt the fungus, and it stank.
The Victorian Age in Literature|G. K. Chesterton
That they stank so abominably they overcame whole armies just with their smell.
The Saracen: Land of the Infidel|Robert Shea
I did, and I stank so of turpentine I was quite ashamed to lie with myself.
The Hypocrite|Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull

There was no need to use the bones, after all—they burnt well enough, it is true, but stank abominably in the burning.
Egholm and his God|Johannes Buchholtz
The atmosphere--for there was no ventilation--stank of sweat, blood, and chloroform.
Diary of a U-Boat Commander|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for stank

stank

/ (stæŋk) /

verb

a past tense of stink

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

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

/ (stɪŋk) /

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

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

stank

past tense of sink (q.v.).

stink

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

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

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