sink

verb

/sɪŋk/

动词形式

present simple I / you / we / they sink	/sɪŋk/ /sɪŋk/
he / she / it sinks	/sɪŋks/ /sɪŋks/
past simple sank	/sæŋk/ /sæŋk/
past participle sunk	/sʌŋk/ /sʌŋk/
-ing form sinking	/ˈsɪŋkɪŋ/ /ˈsɪŋkɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

in water/mud, etc.在水／泥等里

[intransitive] to go down below the surface or towards the bottom of a liquid or soft substance下沉；下陷；沉没

The ship sank to the bottom of the sea.船沉入海底。
The submarine sank after an explosion.潜艇爆炸后沉没了。
We're sinking!我们正在下沉！
sink into something The wheels started to sink into the mud.车轮渐渐陷进泥里。
The little boat sank beneath the waves.小船沉入波涛之下。

It seemed as though the ship had sunk without trace.那艘船沉没后似乎没有留下一丝痕迹。
Duane was in waist-deep and sinking fast.杜安陷到了齐腰深的地方，而且还在快速下沉。
He sank up to his knees in the mud.他陷进没膝深的泥里。
Our feet sank deep into the soft sand as we walked.我们一迈步，脚就深深陷进松软的沙里。

Collocations Dictionaryadverb

slowly
fast
down
…

verb + sink

begin to
start to

preposition

below
beneath
into
…

phrases

sink like a stone
sink or swim
sink to the bottom (of something)
…

boat船只

[transitive] sink something to damage a boat or ship so that it goes below the surface of the sea, etc.使下沉；使沉没

The battleship was sunk by a torpedo.战舰被鱼雷击沉了。
Bombs sank all four carriers.炸弹击沉了所有四艘航母。
Five brothers all died when their ship was sunk.他们的船沉没时，五兄弟都死了。

Topics War and conflictb1

fall/sit down倒下；坐下

[intransitive] + adv./prep. (of a person

人

) to move downwards, especially by falling or sitting down倒下；坐下 synonym collapse

I sank into an armchair.我坐到扶手椅上。
She sank back into her seat, exhausted.她筋疲力尽，又坐回椅子上。
The old man had sunk to his knees.老头跪在了地上。

He sank lower into his chair.他坐在椅子上的身子又往下陷了陷。
I sank gratefully into the warm, dry bed.我一下躺倒在温暖干爽的床上。
She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet.她优雅地坐到他脚边的垫子上。
She sank to the ground, exhausted.她筋疲力尽地瘫倒在地上。

Collocations Dictionaryadverb

wearily
gratefully
gracefully
…

preposition

into
onto

phrases

sink below the horizon
sink to the floor
sink to the ground
…

move downwards下降

[intransitive] (of an object

物体

) to move slowly downwards下沉；下陷；沉降

The sun was sinking in the west.太阳西下。
The sun had sunk below the horizon.太阳落下了地平线。
The foundations of the building are starting to sink.楼房的地基开始下陷。

Collocations Dictionaryadverb

wearily
gratefully
gracefully
…

preposition

into
onto

phrases

sink below the horizon
sink to the floor
sink to the ground
…

become weaker减弱

[intransitive] to decrease in amount, volume, strength, etc.降低；减少；减弱

The pound has sunk to its lowest recorded level against the dollar.英镑对美元的比价降到了有记录以来最低水平。
He is clearly sinking fast (= getting weaker quickly and will soon die).很明显，他的身体在急剧衰弱。

The project gradually sank into oblivion.该项目渐渐被淡忘。
The airline industry is sinking under the weight of its losses.因亏损拖累，航空业正走向衰退。

Topics Change, cause and effectc1

Collocations Dictionaryadverb

quickly
rapidly
gradually
…

preposition

into

phrases

sink to a new low
sink to new lows

of voice声音

[intransitive] to become quieter变低；变小 synonym fade

Her voice sank to a whisper.她的声音变成了耳语。

dig in ground在地上挖掘

[transitive] sink something to make a deep hole in the ground挖，掘（深坑、深洞） synonym drill

to sink a well/shaft/mine掘水井／竖井／矿井

[transitive] sink something (+ adv./prep.) to place something in the ground by digging埋入；打下

to sink a post into the ground在地下埋入一根杆子

prevent success使不成功

[transitive] sink something/somebody (informal) to prevent somebody or somebody’s plans from succeeding使失败；使受挫；阻挠

I think I've just sunk my chances of getting the job.我想，我刚刚葬送了得到那份工作的机会。
If the car breaks down, we'll be sunk (= have serious problems).要是车坏了，咱们可就惨了。

Topics Difficulty and failurec2

ball球

[transitive] sink something to hit a ball into a hole in golf or snooker（高尔夫球）击球入洞；（斯诺克）击球入袋

He sank a 12-foot putt to win the match.他以一记 12 英尺的轻击入洞赢了比赛。

Topics Sports: other sportsc2

alcohol酒

[transitive] sink something (British English, informal) to drink something quickly, especially a large amount of alcohol猛喝；灌

They sank three pints each in 10 minutes.他们在10分钟内每人喝了3品脱。

词源verb Old English sincan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zinken and German sinken.

Idioms

be sunk in something

to be in a state of unhappiness or deep thought陷入不快（或沉思）中
- She just sat there, sunk in thought.她只一味地坐在那儿，陷入了沉思。

(like rats) deserting/leaving a sinking ship

(humorous, disapproving) used to talk about people who leave an organization, a company, etc. that is having difficulties, without caring about the people who are left（比喻只顾自己而离开处于困境中的机构等）（像）逃离沉船（的老鼠）

somebody’s heart sinks

used to say that somebody suddenly feels sad or depressed about something（表示突然感到悲伤或沮丧）心里一沉
- My heart sank when I saw how much work there was left.我看到还有那么多活没干时，心顿时沉了下去。
- She watched him go with a sinking heart.她心情沉重地看着他走了。

sink your differences

to agree to forget about your disagreements摒弃分歧；搁置歧见
- We need to sink our differences and present a united opposition to the plan.我们需要消除分歧，团结一致反对这项计划。
Topics Discussion and agreementc2

a/that sinking feeling

(informal) an unpleasant feeling that you get when you realize that something bad has happened or is going to happen不祥的感觉；沮丧之情
- I had a horrible sinking feeling when I saw the ambulance outside the house.当我看到房子外面的救护车时，我有一种可怕的下沉感。

sink or swim

to be in a situation where you will either succeed by your own efforts or fail completely不自救，必沉沦；自己努力，以求生存
- The new students were just left to sink or swim.学校完全让新生自生自灭。
- In a situation like this, you either sink or swim.在这样的情况下不自救必沉沦。
Topics Successc2, Difficulty and failurec2

sink so low | sink to something

to have such low moral standards that you do something very bad堕落到这种地步；沉沦到某种程度
- Stealing from your friends? How could you sink so low?偷到你的朋友头上了？你怎么能堕落到这种地步呢？
- I can't believe that anyone would sink to such depths.我无法相信竟然有人能堕落到这种程度。
- With this article the newspaper has sunk to a new low.因为这篇文章的缘故，这家报纸的销量降到了历史新低。

sink/stoop to a new/an all-time low

to behave in a worse way than ever before陷入不快（或沉思）中
- The government has stooped to an all-time low with this policy.政府的这项政策已经降到了历史最低点。
- Reality TV has sunk to new lows.真人秀跌至新低。