1
: to go or move stealthily or furtively (as in fear or shame) : steal
2
: to move in a sinuous provocative manner
: to give premature birth to
—used especially of a domestic animal
a cow that slinks her calf
: the young of an animal (such as a calf) brought forth prematurely
also
: the flesh or skin of such an animal
: born prematurely or abortively
a slink calf
Synonyms
Examples of slink in a Sentence
Verb
He slinked away in shame.
like a thief slinking about in the middle of the night
Recent Examples on the Web
Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Gretta was especially bothered by the sight of the minister’s son slinking off with Meg Polk at church.
—Aryn Kyle, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
If everyone in her extended family sat down for dinner, the table would circle around corners and slink down stairs.
—Jordan P. Hickey, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2024
In the tech world, some of the venture capitalists and founders who decamped to Miami and Austin, hailing them as the new hotspots for startups, are slinking back to San Francisco, enticed by the local boom in artificial intelligence companies.
—Kate Talerico, Orange County Register, 11 Mar. 2024
The production became an infamous disaster with Ramsay and Fassbender departing the movie, which eventually slunk into theaters in 2015.
—Clark Collis, EW.com, 21 Sep. 2023
Her love of archival designs was also evident in the song's music video, with Cyrus slinking about in a golden hooded gown from Yves Saint Laurent’s fall 1991 collection, among other throwback looks.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 1 Mar. 2024
Samuel quickly slunk into his chair and broke eye contact with me once the question was asked — Deebo is fast at everything.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2024
The tale begins in 1600 with a ghost ship slinking into a small Japanese harbor town.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024
Brittany Anas, The Denver Post, 12 Mar. 2024
Pixie, Lamy and Owens’s hairless sphynx cat, slinks across the black plywood dining table hunting for food.
—Nick Haramis Ola Rindal Dogukan Nesanir, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
While Home Alone In the clip, which Southlake DPS shared in its Facebook post, an opossum slinks onto the porch and starts sniffing the cookie delivery.
—Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 1 Feb. 2024
Finally, around the video’s three-minute mark, the coyote turns tail and slinks into the brush.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 31 Jan. 2024
Sometimes a new archeological site rattles an old timetable, then slinks, invalidated, into obscurity.
—Joann C Gutin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
There’s a salted fudgy swirl that slinks into a few bites—swoon.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 14 Oct. 2023
Most Broadway shows that close slink into the darkness uncelebrated.
—Mark Kennedy, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Apr. 2023
There’s a reason so many of these slink into theaters and onto streaming services during the autumn months.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2022
Verb
Instead of slinking back into her hate hole, Van Der Mark followed the Trump manual for victory.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Gretta was especially bothered by the sight of the minister’s son slinking off with Meg Polk at church.
—Aryn Kyle, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
If everyone in her extended family sat down for dinner, the table would circle around corners and slink down stairs.
—Jordan P. Hickey, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2024
In the tech world, some of the venture capitalists and founders who decamped to Miami and Austin, hailing them as the new hotspots for startups, are slinking back to San Francisco, enticed by the local boom in artificial intelligence companies.
—Kate Talerico, Orange County Register, 11 Mar. 2024
The production became an infamous disaster with Ramsay and Fassbender departing the movie, which eventually slunk into theaters in 2015.
—Clark Collis, EW.com, 21 Sep. 2023
Her love of archival designs was also evident in the song's music video, with Cyrus slinking about in a golden hooded gown from Yves Saint Laurent’s fall 1991 collection, among other throwback looks.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 1 Mar. 2024
Samuel quickly slunk into his chair and broke eye contact with me once the question was asked — Deebo is fast at everything.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2024
The tale begins in 1600 with a ghost ship slinking into a small Japanese harbor town.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024
Noun
After playing in the snow, book a spa treatment and slink into a copper soaking tub or enjoy a heated river stone massage.
—Brittany Anas, The Denver Post, 12 Mar. 2024
Pixie, Lamy and Owens’s hairless sphynx cat, slinks across the black plywood dining table hunting for food.
—Nick Haramis Ola Rindal Dogukan Nesanir, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
While Home Alone In the clip, which Southlake DPS shared in its Facebook post, an opossum slinks onto the porch and starts sniffing the cookie delivery.
—Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 1 Feb. 2024
Finally, around the video’s three-minute mark, the coyote turns tail and slinks into the brush.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 31 Jan. 2024
Sometimes a new archeological site rattles an old timetable, then slinks, invalidated, into obscurity.
—Joann C Gutin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
There’s a salted fudgy swirl that slinks into a few bites—swoon.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 14 Oct. 2023
Most Broadway shows that close slink into the darkness uncelebrated.
—Mark Kennedy, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Apr. 2023
There’s a reason so many of these slink into theaters and onto streaming services during the autumn months.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slink.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English, from Old English slincan to creep; akin to Old English slingan to worm, twist
First Known Use
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Noun
1607, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
1750, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of slink was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near slink
Cite this Entry
“Slink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slink. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
slink
verbˈsliŋk
slunk
ˈsləŋk
; slinking
: to move or go sneakily : creep along (as in fear or shame)
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