stink
part of speech
verb (stink, stinks, stank, stunk, stinking); noun (a stink)
meaning for a pupil
1) To stink is to have a very strong, bad smell. tree →
2) A stink is a strong, bad smell. tree →
3) (informal) If something stinks, it is very bad, unfair or of poor quality. tree →
4) (informal) To make (or kick up) a stink is to complain loudly and angrily. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life bins, socks and rotten eggs stink. In science, stink bombs and skunks are classic examples of strong smells. Children say «that stinks!» when something is unfair. In stories, a troll's cave stinks. Phrases: stink of, stink to high heaven, kick up a stink, stinking rich (informal).
examples
- Your football socks stink! tree →
- The bins stank in the hot weather. tree →
- There was a terrible stink from the drains. tree →
- Skunks spray a liquid that stinks. tree →
- «You're not coming? That stinks!» (informal) tree →
- Mum kicked up a stink when the shop wouldn't give a refund. tree →
- The room stinks of fish. tree →
- He's stinking rich. (informal) tree →
note
Irregular verb: stink, stank, stunk. «Stink of» something. «Stinky» and «stinking» are informal adjectives. «Stinking» can also be a mild rough intensifier («a stinking cold»). It is informal, so in writing use «smell bad».
In the corpora
- Male ring-tailed lemurs have stink fights, wiping scent onto their tails and waving them at rivals.
- Stink bugs release bad-smelling chemicals when disturbed, and smells work well as defences because predators learn quickly.
- The bin men came and went; for two weeks the full bin stank by the back door and the whole family smelled it.
- Fresh sweat barely smells; the stink comes from bacteria feeding on sweat in a warm closed bag.
- (8-10) And they gathered them together in heaps; and the land stank.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «stink» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.