ink

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   fill with ink

   ink a pen

2. 2
   verb

   mark, coat, cover, or stain with ink

   They inked their finger.

3. 3
   verb

   append one's signature to

   They inked the contract

4. 4
   noun

   A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc.

   This form should be filled out in ink.

5. 5
   noun

   The black or dark-colored fluid ejected by squid, octopus etc, as a protective strategy.

   Experimentally, some ink has been shown to be unpalatable to fish (Wood et al. 2010) and observationally, ink can also function as an attractant to predators to give cephalopods a bit more time to escape.

6. 6
   noun

   Publicity.

   to get ink

7. 7
   noun

   Tattoo work.

   "I saw it hanging on the wall of a tattoo hut where I went to get some ink done ten years ago," he stuttered, flushing in splotches and squirming in his chair.

8. 8
   verb

   To apply ink to; to cover or smear with ink.

   A plain impression is obtained by pressing the bulb of the finger, with the plane of the nail parallel to the plane of the plate, on the inked plate and then on the paper in the same manner.

Etymology

From Middle English ynke, from Old French enque, from Latin encaustum (“purple ink used by Roman emperors to sign documents”), from Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστον (énkauston, “burned-in”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + καίω (kaíō, “burn”). In this sense, displaced native Old English blæc (“ink”, literally “black”). Sense four refers to the ink used in newspapers.