slink C2+ Topic:Verbs of Movement US /slɪŋk/ UK /slɪŋk/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 verb to move quietly and furtively, as if ashamed or stealthy The cat tried to slink past the dog unnoticed. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to move quietly and... sneakcreepskulkprowlstealslip Word family Derived forms slinky Related forms slankslunk Etymology AI details From Old English slincan ('to creep, crawl'), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną, related to Low German slinken ('to subside'). slincan Old English *slinkaną Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics Verbs of Movement External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # slink **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /slɪŋk/ **IPA (UK):** /slɪŋk/ ## Meanings 1. to move quietly and furtively, as if ashamed or stealthy ## Examples - The cat tried to slink past the dog unnoticed. ## Synonyms - sneak - creep - skulk - prowl - steal - slip ## Derived Forms - slinky ## Related Forms - slank - slunk ## Roots and Affixes - Root: slincan - Root: *slinkaną ## Etymology From Old English slincan ('to creep, crawl'), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną, related to Low German slinken ('to subside'). ## AI Etymology Slink comes from Old English slincan ('to creep, crawl'), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną, related to Low German slinken ('to subside'). The historical chain includes Old English slincan and Proto-Germanic *slinkaną. Older glosses in the chain include "to creep, crawl" and "to subside", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, slink is best read as borrowing, yielding an English verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb, with the sense "to move quietly and furtively, as if ashamed or stealthy". English derivatives include slinky; related forms include slank and slunk. The result is an English verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning. ## Topics - Verbs of Movement markdown