1. To change direction suddenly and quickly, usually to avoid someone or something.
2. A sudden quick turn made to avoid an obstacle, opponent, or pursuing threat.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- jink left
- jink past a defender
- jink out of the way
On the page
The winger jinked past two defenders and crossed the ball.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- jink
- Past tense
- jinked
- Past participle
- jinked
- Present participle
- jinking
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- jink
- Present continuous
- am/is/are jinking
- Present perfect
- have/has jinked
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been jinking
- Past
- jinked
- Past continuous
- was/were jinking
- Past perfect
- had jinked
- Past perfect continuous
- had been jinking
- Future
- will jink
- Future continuous
- will be jinking
- Future perfect
- will have jinked
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been jinking
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: jink; jinks; jinked; jinked; jinking. Noun singular jink; plural jinks. Commonness: moderately common (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW and Collins sudden evasive turns; verb and action noun kept separate. Not every quick movement. Writing functions: precise action, characterization. Third-person singular: jinks.
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