zinken
German, verb
zinken is spelled Z-I-N-K-E-N (6 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written German, the 52,012th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zinken is a German verb meaning “mark” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Zinken is a different word: “alternative form of Zinke (“tine, prong”)”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “(ein Kartenspiel) zum Falschspiel machen”.
What does zinken mean in English?
adjective
- 1
zinc
ein zinkener Eimer, eine zinkene Wanne
verb
- 1
mark
Falschspieler sind bekannt dafür, ihre Karten zu zinken.
- 2
slangmark (something, someone) by giving a sign/signal/hint/tip-off and thus give away (sb. or sth. to sb.)
Die Sache kam ans Licht, weil einer von ihnen gezinkt hatte.
noun
- 1
masculinealternative form of Zinke (“tine, prong”)
- 2
informalmasculinelarge nose (in this sense only the masculine)
noun
- 1
masculineplural of Zink
noun
- 1
feminineplural of Zinke
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zinken
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. große, unförmige Nase 2. langer spitzer Fortsatz an einem Kamm, einem Rechen oder einer Gabel 3. Geheimzeichen des fahrenden Volkes 4. Wohnplatz
verb: 1. (ein Kartenspiel) zum Falschspiel machen
adjective: 1. aus Zink bestehend
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of zinken
- zinkener masculine nominative singular
- zinkene feminine nominative singular
- zinkenes neuter nominative singular
- zinkenen genitive masculine singular
- zinkenem dative masculine singular
- der zinkene definite includes-article masculine
- die zinkene definite feminine includes-article
- das zinkene definite includes-article neuter
- die zinkenen definite includes-article nominative
- des zinkenen definite genitive includes-article
- der zinkenen definite feminine genitive
- dem zinkenen dative definite includes-article
- den zinkenen dative definite includes-article
- Zinkens genitive singular
- zinke present
- zinkst present
- zinkt present
- zinkte past
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to zinken
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is zinken in German?
zinken appears about once in every 2 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).