Meanings
plural sinkings
- gerundgerund of sink: the process by which something sinks, or is sunk.
I witnessed the sinking of my ship from the shore.
2 more examples
We must endeavour to realize a succession of gradual sinkings or depressions into deep water, alternating with gradual emergings into shallows, and eventually a gradual continued lifting of the whole district[…]
1857, Pamphlets on Biology: Kofoid collectionThe excavation took 16 months of 24-hour working to complete and required the sinking of a 65ft shaft, from where workers carved out the passageway and lined it with reinforced steel and sprayed concrete.
2022 August 10, “Network News: New maintenance tunnel at Euston”, in RAIL, number 963, page 21
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of sink
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic غَرَق
- غَرَق (ḡaraq)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
Bulgarian потъване
- потъване (potăvane)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
Chinese Mandarin 下沉, 沉沒 /沉没
- 下沉 (xiàchén)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
- 沉沒 /沉没 (chénmò)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
Danish forlis
- forlisprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Finnish uppoaminen
- uppoaminenprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
French naufrage
- naufrageprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
German Untergang
- Untergangprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Italian affondamento, naufragio
- affondamentoprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
- naufragioprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Japanese 沈没
- 沈没process by which something sinks, or is sunk
Korean 침몰
- 침몰 (chimmol)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
Māori totohutanga
- totohutangaprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Norwegian Bokmål forlis
- forlisprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Polish tonięcie
- tonięcieprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Portuguese naufrágio
- naufrágioprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Russian потопле́ние, круше́ние
- потопле́ние (potoplénije)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
- круше́ние (krušénije)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
- ги́бель (gíbelʹ)process by which something sinks, or is sunk
Spanish hundimiento, naufragio
- hundimientoprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
- naufragioprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Swedish förlisning
- förlisningprocess by which something sinks, or is sunk
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sinking
All rhymes →Cite this entry
sinking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinking
“sinking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinking. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sinking,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinking.
Source: sinking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.