Kink

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɪŋk/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

From Middle English kinken, kynken, from Old English *cincian ("to laugh"; attested by cincung ("a fit of laughter")), from Proto-Germanic *kinkōną ("to laugh"), from Proto-Indo-European *gang- ("to mock, jeer, deride"), related to Old English canc ("jeering, scorn, derision"). Cognate with Dutch kinken ("to kink, cough").

Full definition of kink

Verb

1. To laugh loudly.
2. To gasp for breath as in a severe fit of coughing.

Noun

1. A convulsive fit of coughing or laughter; a sonorous indraft of breath; a whoop; a gasp of breath caused by laughing, coughing, or crying.

From Norwegian or Swedish kink ("a twist or curl in a rope"), from Middle Low German kinke ("spiral screw, coil"), from Proto-Germanic *kenk-, *keng- ("to bend, turn"), from Proto-Indo-European *gengÊ°- ("to turn, wind, braid, weave"). Cognate with Icelandic kengur ("a bend or bight; a metal crook").

Noun

1. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of thin material, hair etc.We couldn't get enough water to put out the fire because of a kink in the hose.
2. A difficulty or flaw that is likely to impede operation, as in a plan or system.They had planned to open another shop downtown, but their plan had a few kinks.
3. An unreasonable notion; a crotchet; a whim; a caprice.
4. (slang, countable and uncountable) Peculiarity or deviation in sexual behaviour or taste.
• 2013, Alison Tyler, H Is for Hardcore (page 13)To top it all off, Lynn is into kink. Last night she was really into kink. It's a good thing that today is my day off because I need the time to recuperate and think things over.
5. (Scotland, dialect) A fit of coughing or laughter.
6. (mathematics) A positive 1-soliton solution to the Sine–Gordon equation

Verb

1. (transitive) To form a kink or twist.
2. (intransitive) To be formed into a kink or twist.

Derived terms

• kinked
• kinky
• kinkle
• kinkster