What does "stank" mean?
A stink; a foul smell.
Stank
/stæŋk/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A stink; a foul smell.
- Grammar: stank is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: bomb, fail, flop, malodorous.
- Useful contrasts: excel, fragrance, perform well.
- Usage evidence: Tom was dirty and stank to high heaven.
How to use "stank"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stank" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stank" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stank" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stank" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stank" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bomb" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stank", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A stink; a foul smell. derogatory, slang
- 2 A certain quality, especially to jazz music, which is often desirable and can be achieved by, among other things, crunchy harmonies, blue notes and groovy rhythm slang, uncountable
- 3 Water retained by an embankment; a pool of water. UK, dialectal
"And he [the hart] fleeth then mightily and far from the hounds, that is to say he hath gone a great way from them, then he will go into the stank, and will soil therein once or twice in all the stank and then he will come out again by the same way that he went in, and then he shall ruse again the same way that he came (the length of) a bow shot or more, and then he shall ruse out of the way, for to stall or squatt to rest him, and that he doeth for he knoweth well that the hounds shall come by the fues [footing] into the stank where he was."
- 4 A smell of genitals or sex wordnet
- 5 A dam or mound to stop water. UK, dialectal
Verb
- 1 simple past of stink form-of, past
- 2 To stink; to smell bad.
"I just ignored him because he stanked worst than I did."
- 3 To dam up; to block the flow of water or other liquid.
"Water-courses are stanked where they take a sharp turn, to prevent the force of the current wearing away the bank at the outside angle."
- 4 To surround or guard.
"This was executed with sch gallantry and spirit by the troops, that, notwithstanding the natural strength of this pos, the abbatis of fruit trees that were made, the batteries of the town of Bommel which stanked the approach, and the considerable number of men who defended it, it was soon carried, and the enemy driven across the river (every where passable on the ice) with considerable loss of men and of four pieces of cannon."
- 5 To trample. Cornwall
"In the por ( bustle ) I lost my hat ; tell gittin ' cloase to a mait-stannin ' (shambles), to saave myself from bein' stanked ( trampled ) under fut, I got up and set down 'pon the stannin' ; an ' then, aw, I feelt my sawl all a-fire weth love for everybody theere, and sprengin' to my feet, I begun to ex'ort, and then took to pray."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To cause (the udders) to become blocked and inflamed from lack of milking.
"In cattle auctions, cows are frequently seen with “stanked udders,” when a cow is driven to market several miles along hard roads with a loaded udder, its milk is not improved for human consumption."
- 7 To cause to smell bad.
"He was killing me with the jokes and he was killing everybody with his smuggled corned beef samages that stanked up the joint."
- 8 To pack in tightly. broadly
"They never dreamed of using a float; I doubt if there was such a thing in the whole valley; but they “stanked' their rods in the bank, with the line heavily shotted and arranged so that the hook was just clear of the bottom, the line being at right angles to the point of the rod."
- 9 To stumble or lurch. Cornwall
"I put on my clean gook to-day, And went to fetch some barm,When I stanked 'pon a slaw-cripple, Down there by Hodge's farm."
- 10 To seal off an area of the mine in which a fire has started. broadly
"The writer was obliged, a few months ago, to open out a whole district which had been "stanked off " ( as the phrase of the district is ) for over a year, and on approaching the old air-way the heat became intolerable and the fire was burning as badly as ever."
Adjective
- 1 Foul-smelling, stinking, unclean. derogatory, not-comparable, slang
"Fishy, pussy funky elevator Pissy, broke ass project elevator Old baby piss, stank ass horse, cat piss smelling funky hot ass elevator I'm not climbing no 17 flights[…]"
- 2 Weak; worn out. obsolete
"I am so stiff and so stank, That uneath may I stand any more"
Proper Noun
- 1 A hamlet east of Barrow-in-Furness in Barrow parish, Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, previously in Barrow-in-Furness district (OS grid ref SD2370).
Example
"Tom was dirty and stank to high heaven."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stank"?
Common synonyms include: bomb, fail, flop, malodorous, reek, smell.
How do you use "stank" in a sentence?
Tom was dirty and stank to high heaven.
How do you pronounce "stank"?
Pronounced /stæŋk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Respelling of stink, representing the thank-think merger. Compare thang.
Etymology 2
From Old French estanc, (French étang), from Latin stagnum (“a pool”). Compare stagnant, stagnate.
Etymology 3
From Old French estanc, or Italian stanco. See stanch (adjective).