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Drain vs Sink - What's the difference?

drain | sink |

In intransitive terms the difference between drain and sink

is that drain is to flow gradually while sink is to decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.

In transitive terms the difference between drain and sink

is that drain is to draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust while sink is to push (something) into something.

drain

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , author=Frank Fish, George Lauder , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain , as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
  • Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  • (label) An act of urination.
  • (label) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  • Derived terms

    * circle the drain * down the drain * drain fly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lose liquid.
  • The clogged sink drained slowly.
  • To flow gradually.
  • The water of low ground drains off.
  • (ergative) To cause liquid to flow out of.
  • Please drain the sink. It's full of dirty water.
  • (ergative) To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
  • They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.
  • To deplete of energy or resources.
  • The stress of this job is really draining me.
  • To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.
  • * Motley
  • But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.
  • (obsolete) To filter.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.
  • (pinball) To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
  • * 1990 , Steven A. Schwartz, Compute's Nintendo Secrets
  • When a ball finally drains , it's gulped down by a giant gator beneath the set of flippers.

    Derived terms

    * drainage * drain the lizard (vulgar)

    Anagrams

    *

    sink

    English

    Verb

  • To move or be moved into something.
  • #(lb) To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To cause a vessel to sink, generally by making it no longer watertight.
  • #(lb) To push (something) into something.
  • #:
  • # To pot; hit a ball into a pocket or hole.
  • #*2008 , Edward Keating, The Joy of Ex: A Novel
  • #*:My sister beats me at pool in public a second time. I claim some dignity back by potting two of my balls before Tammy sinks the black.
  • To diminish or be diminished.
  • # To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or momentary depression.
  • #*1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula), Ch.21:
  • #*:I tried, but I could not wake him. This caused me a great fear, and I looked around terrified. Then indeed, my heart sank within me. Beside the bed, as if he had stepped out of the mist, or rather as if the mist had turned into his figure, for it had entirely disappeared, stood a tall, thin man, all in black.
  • #*1915 , , The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel , Little, Brown, and Company, Boston; ch. XIX:
  • #*:Peter's heart sank . "Don't you think it is dreadful?" he asked.
  • # To cause to decline; to depress or degrade.
  • #:
  • #*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • #*:If I have a conscience, let it sink me.
  • #* (1674-1718)
  • #*:Thy cruel and unnatural lust of power / Has sunk thy father more than all his years.
  • #(lb) To demean or lower oneself; to do something below one's status, standards, or morals.
  • #*2013 , Steve Henschel, Niagara This Week , April 24:
  • #*:Who would sink so low as to steal change from veterans?
  • To conceal and appropriate.
  • *(Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
  • *:If sent with ready money to buy anything, and you happen to be out of pocket, sink the money, and take up the goods on account.
  • To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.
  • * (1721-1793)
  • *:a courtly willingness to sink obnoxious truths
  • To reduce or extinguish by payment.
  • :
  • (lb) To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fail in strength.
  • *(rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.
  • *(rfdate) John Mortimer (1656?-1736)
  • *:Let not the fire sink or slacken.
  • (lb) To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.
  • *(rfdate) (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • *:The Alps and Pyreneans sink before him.
  • *
  • *:It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
  • Usage notes

    * Use of the past participle form sunk'' for the past ''sank is not uncommon, but considered incorrect.

    Synonyms

    * descend, go down * (submerge) dip, dunk, submerge * *

    Derived terms

    * sinker * sink in * sink like a stone * sinking fund * sinking head * sink or swim * sinking pump * sinking ship * countersink

    Noun

    (wikipedia sink) (en noun)
  • A basin used for holding water for washing
  • A drain for carrying off wastewater
  • (geology) A sinkhole
  • A depression in land where water collects, with no visible outlet
  • A heat sink
  • A place that absorbs resources or energy
  • (baseball) The motion of a sinker pitch
  • Jones' has a two-seamer with heavy sink .
  • (computing, programming) An object or callback that captures events; event sink
  • (graph theory) a destination vertex in a transportation network
  • Synonyms

    * (basin) basin, washbasin

    Antonyms

    * (destination vertex) source