Word.ws English Dictionary

sinks or swims

sinks or swims is the third-person singular simple present indicative of sink or swim.

Meaning of sink or swim

Verb

sink or swim (third-person singular simple present sinks or swims, present participle sinking or swimming, simple past sank or swam, past participle sunk or swum)

  1. (idiomatic) To succeed through one's own efforts without support, or else fail completely.
    • "No matter, we are going, live or die, sink or swim; and I shall expect to meet you, all booted and spurred and fit for the fight, April first," said the unwavering Amanda.1872, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 1, in Shawl-Straps

Questions about sinks or swims

What is sinks or swims the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Sinks or swims is the third-person singular simple present indicative of sink or swim.

Words near sinks or swims in the dictionary

  1. sinkroom
  2. sinkrooms
  3. sinks
  4. sinks in
  5. sinks of iniquity
  6. sinks or swims
  7. sinkt
  8. sinkwa towelsponge
  9. sinkward
  10. sinkware
  11. sinkwater

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sinks or swims (page history and authors); sink or swim (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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