sink (redirected from sinkage)

everything but the kitchen sink (humorous)

a lot of different things, many of which you do not need. We were only going away for the weekend, but Jack insisted on taking everything but the kitchen sink.

See also: but, everything, kitchen

get/sink your teeth into something

to start to do something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Up till then she'd only had small parts in films and nothing she could get her teeth into. It's a really exciting project - I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

See also: teeth

someone's heart sinks

if someone's heart sinks, they start to feel sad or worried. He looked at the huge pile of work on his desk and his heart sank.

See also: heart

kitchen-sink (British & Australian)

a kitchen-sink play, film, or style of painting is one which shows ordinary people's lives. Kitchen-sink drama came into fashion in the 1950s. (always before noun) In his latest work, he is moving away from kitchen-sink realism towards a more experimental style of painting.

sink like a stone

to fail completely. He had published two novels, both of which sank like a stone.

See also: like, stone

sink or swim

to fail or succeed. Newcomers are given no training - they are simply left to sink or swim.

See also: swim

sink to such depths

to behave very badly. I find it hard to believe that human beings could sink to such depths.

See also: depth, such

sink without trace

to be forgotten about completely, after being popular for a while. They enjoyed brief success with their second album and then sank without trace.

See also: trace, without

a sinking feeling (informal)

a feeling that something bad is going to happen. I had that sinking feeling you get going into an exam you haven't studied for.

See also: feeling

a sinking ship

a company or other organization that is failing. He'd seen the company's accounts, realized he was on a sinking ship, and decided to get off.

See also: ship

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everything but the kitchen sink

almost all that you can imagine of something. Here's a website that simply has everything but the kitchen sink.

Etymology: based on the idea that if you brought many things to someone, a kitchen sink is one of the last things you would bring because it is difficult to move

See also: but, everything, kitchen

your heart sinks

you become discouraged or disappointed. My heart sank when I opened the letter and realized I had not been accepted into graduate school.

See also: heart

sink your teeth into something

to start to do something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. She'd only had small parts in films and was hoping for a bigger, more interesting part, something she could sink her teeth into. It's a really exciting project – I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

See also: teeth

a sinking ship

an organization that is failing. She says the school is a sinking ship, and has no money to hire additional teachers.

See also: ship