slank

/ˈslæŋk/US/ˈsleɪ̯ŋk/

slank is the simple past and past participle of slink.

Meaning of slink

Verb

slink (third-person singular simple present slinks, present participle slinking, simple past and past participle slunk or slinked or (uncommon) slank)

(intransitive) To sneak about furtively.
- As we do turn our backs
  From our companion thrown into his grave,
  So his familiars to his buried fortunes
  Slink all away, leave their false vows with him,
  Like empty purses pick’d; and his poor self,
  A dedicated beggar to the air,
  With his disease of all-shunn’d poverty,
  Walks, like contempt, alone.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
(ambitransitive) To give birth to an animal prematurely.
- a cow that slinks her calf

See all 8 meanings of slink

Noun

slank (plural slanks)

(UK, US, dialectal) A depression, a low place in the ground, especially one at the side of a river, lake, or cove which is filled with water during freshet(s).
- […] The board of health had prohibited the sale of ice cut from the "slank," because water in the "slank" was said to be polluted. The ice dealers, however, contend that the city of Patterson has no right to pollute the river and thus hurt their business, […] stopping the sale of "slank" ice, […]1897, Ice and Refrigeration, page 269
- Van Zaun says that the fishing stopped 15 or 16 years before he testified - that would be about 1890. Mr. Shriner, one of the city's witnesses, says that he caught fish in one of the slanks in 1883 or 1885.1908, Atlantic Reporter, page 229

Forms of slank

plural	slanks

Origin of slank

Compare dialectal slonk (“depression, hollow, slough”), slunk (“slough, hollow; mud”).

Words that rhyme with slank

34 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about slank

What does slank mean?: Slank means a depression, a low place in the ground, especially one at the side of a river, lake, or cove which is filled with water during freshet(s).
What is slank the simple past and past participle of?: Slank is the simple past and past participle of slink.
What part of speech is slank?: Slank is a noun.
How do you pronounce slank?: Slank is pronounced /ˈslæŋk/.
What is the plural of slank?: The plural of slank is slanks.

Words near slank in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: slank (page history and authors); slink (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-slank.wav.

Cite this entry: “slank.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slank. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.