Link Centre Dictionary

stink

UK/stɪŋk/ US/ˈstɪŋk/ common informal slang
verb (2) noun (1)

verb

1.

be extremely bad in quality or in one''s performance

  • “This term paper stinks!”
2.

smell badly and offensively

  • “The building reeks of smoke”
Synonyms

noun

1.

Origin

From Middle English stinken, from Old English stincan, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-, *stegʷ- (“to push, thrust, strike”). Cognate with West Frisian stjonke (“to stink”), Dutch stinken (“to stink”), German stinken (“to stink”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”). Compare typologically Russian рази́ть (razítʹ).

Phrases

  • fish and company stink after three days
  • give out stink
  • kick up a stink
  • like stink
  • like stink on shit
  • make a stink
  • money does not stink
  • raise a stink

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See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.