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Synonyms

stank

American  
[stangk] / stæŋk /

verb

  1. a simple past tense of stink.

stank 1 British  
/ stæŋk /

noun

  1. a small cofferdam, esp one of timber made watertight with clay

  2. dialect a pond or pool

"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

verb

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

"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
stank 2 British  
/ stæŋk /

noun

  1. a drain, as in a roadway

  2. a draining board adjacent to a sink unit

"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
stank 3 British  
/ stæŋk /

verb

  1. a past tense of stink

"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

Etymology

Origin of stank1

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

Origin of stank2

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

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.

The rules stank, but the rules were the rules, and everyone knew them, and Bush allegedly broke them, and no shiny trophy is going to change that.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2024

He found a place in Astana in an apartment that stank of cat.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 11, 2024

The whole thing "stank", he said, with it never discovered who planted it.

From BBC • Jul. 20, 2023

Black singers get it: You’re practicing the art of stank.

From New York Times • May 25, 2023

She felt instantly embarrassed because she hadn’t bathed in days, she knew her wounds and salves probably stank, and she had proved herself incapable in the master’s home.

From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper

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.