ink

1 of 2

noun

often attributive
1
: a colored usually liquid material for writing and printing
2
: the black protective secretion of a cephalopod
3
4
informal : one or more tattoos on a person's body
Whether or not it's your cup of meat, the proliferation of body-art mags suggests that a slew of folks have ink, and they didn't get it from reading the newspaper.Albert Mobilio
inkiness noun
inky adjective

ink

2 of 2

verb

inked; inking; inks

transitive verb

1
a
: to put ink on
ink a pen
ink a printing block
b
: to draw or write in ink
ink a design
often used with in
carefully inked in the letters
c
: to obliterate with ink
usually used with out
inked out many lines
2
US, informal
a
: to affix one's signature to : sign sense 2a
an athlete who has inked a new contract
b
: to engage or hire by securing the signature of (someone) on a contract : sign sense 4
… has been inked to do the part of a judge in an HBO special …Marge Crumbaker
3
informal : tattoo
… got himself an elaborate tattoo, his first, inked along his right shoulder …S. L. Price
Kaufman plans on inking a tat to memorialize his accident.Micah Abrams
His heavily muscled arms are inked shoulder to wrist.Eve Conant

Examples of ink in a Sentence

Noun Fill out the form using blue or black ink. The printer is out of ink. We're using four different inks for this poster. Verb They just inked a new partnership agreement. the basketball star just inked a two-year contract with the most celebrated franchise in the NBA
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Another user agreed, likening the phenomenon to temporary tattoos and explaining that moisture likely caused the ink on the bag to transfer to the breadstick before it was baked. Toria Sheffield, People.com, 2 Dec. 2024 Born and raised in Dobbs Ferry, 45 minutes north of Manhattan, Paul moved to the city when the ink on his high school graduation certificate was barely dry. Sarah Weinman, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2024
Verb
Players near Turner’s ability level — Brook Lopez, Nic Claxton, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jarrett Allen — have all inked contracts somewhere between $25 and $30 million in average annual value recently. Tony East, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024 Last year, Samsung inked a deal with Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco to launch a channel featuring clips from his decades on late night TV from NBC and TBS. Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ink 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English enke, from Anglo-French encre, enke, from Late Latin encaustum, from neuter of Latin encaustus burned in, from Greek enkaustos, verbal of enkaiein to burn in — more at encaustic

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ink was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near ink

Cite this Entry

“Ink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ink. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

ink

1 of 2 noun
1
: a usually liquid material for writing or printing
2
: the black protective secretion of a cephalopod

ink

2 of 2 verb
1
: to put ink on
2
: to write or draw in ink
inker noun

More from Merriam-Webster on ink

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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