Sink vs. Submerge — What's the Difference?

To fall or collapse inward or downward.

To engage deeply in a particular activity or interest.

To descend gradually under the force of gravity, especially in a fluid.

To cover or obscure completely.

To decrease in volume, amount, or rate.

To bury or push down.

To become overwhelmed or overtaken by a feeling.

To cause to go under the surface of a liquid.

To fail or decline significantly in condition or value.

To sink below the surface of water.

A sink – also known by other names including sinker, washbowl, hand basin, wash basin, and simply basin – is a bowl-shaped plumbing fixture used for washing hands, dishwashing, and other purposes. Sinks have taps (faucets) that supply hot and cold water and may include a spray feature to be used for faster rinsing.

To place under the surface of a liquid, especially water

Go down below the surface of something, especially of a liquid; become submerged

To cover with water or another liquid; inundate

Descend from a higher to a lower position; drop downwards

To hide from view; obscure

Gradually decrease or decline in value, amount, quality, or intensity

To go under the surface of a body of water

Insert beneath a surface

To disappear as if by going under water.

Rapidly consume (an alcoholic drink)

(intransitive) To sink out of sight.

A fixed basin with a water supply and outflow pipe

(transitive) To put into a liquid; to immerse; to plunge into and keep in.

A pool or marsh in which a river's water disappears by evaporation or percolation.

To put under water; to plunge.

Short for sinkhole

To cover or overflow with water; to inundate; to flood; to drown.

A place of vice or corruption

To plunge into water or other fluid; to be buried or covered, as by a fluid; to be merged; hence, to be completely included.

To go below the surface of water or another liquid

Sink below the surface; go under or as if under water

To descend to the bottom of a body of water or other liquid

Cover completely or make imperceptible;

To fall or drop to a lower level, especially to go down slowly or in stages

Put under water;

To subside or settle gradually

Fill or cover completely, usually with water

To appear to move downward, as the sun or moon in setting.

To slope downward; incline

To fall or lower oneself slowly, as from weakness or fatigue

To feel great disappointment or discouragement

To pass into something; penetrate

To steep or soak

To pass into a specified condition

To deteriorate in quality or condition

To diminish, as in value

To become weaker, quieter, or less forceful

To make an impression; become felt or understood

To cause to descend beneath the surface or to the bottom of a liquid

To cause to penetrate deeply

To force into the ground

To dig or drill (a mine or well) in the earth.

To cause to drop or lower

(Sports) To propel (a ball or shot) into a hole, basket, or pocket.

To cause to be engrossed

To make weaker, quieter, or less forceful

To reduce in quantity or worth

To debase the nature of; degrade

To bring to a low or ruined state; defeat or destroy

To suppress or hide

(Informal) To defeat, as in a game.

To invest or spend, often without getting a return or adequate value

To pay off (a debt).

A water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe and generally a piped supply of water.

A cesspool.

A sinkhole.

A natural or artificial means of absorbing or removing a substance or a form of energy from a system.

A place regarded as wicked and corrupt

To move or be moved into something.

(ergative) To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.

(transitive) To (directly or indirectly) cause a vessel to sink, generally by making it no longer watertight.

(transitive) To push (something) into something.

(transitive) To make by digging or delving.

To pot; hit a ball into a pocket or hole.

To diminish or be diminished.

To experience apprehension, disappointment, dread, or momentary depression.

To cause to decline; to depress or degrade.

(intransitive) To demean or lower oneself; to do something below one's status, standards, or morals.

To conceal and appropriate.

To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.

To drink (especially something alcoholic).

To pay absolutely.

To reduce or extinguish by payment.

(intransitive) To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fail in strength.

To die.

(intransitive) To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.

A basin used for holding water for washing.

A drain for carrying off wastewater.

(geology) A sinkhole.

A depression in land where water collects, with no visible outlet.

A heat sink.

A place that absorbs resources or energy.

(ecology) A habitat that cannot support a population on its own but receives the excess of individuals from some other source.

(uncountable) Descending motion; descent.

(baseball) The motion of a sinker pitch.

An object or callback that captures events; an event sink.

(graph theory) A destination vertex in a transportation network.

An abode of degraded persons; a wretched place.

A depression in a stereotype plate.

(theater) A stage trapdoor for shifting scenery.

(mining) An excavation smaller than a shaft.

(game development) One or several systems that remove currency from the game's economy, thus controlling or preventing inflation.

To fall by, or as by, the force of gravity; to descend lower and lower; to decline gradually; to subside; as, a stone sinks in water; waves rise and sink; the sun sinks in the west.

To enter deeply; to fall or retire beneath or below the surface; to penetrate.

Hence, to enter so as to make an abiding impression; to enter completely.

To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fall slowly, as so the ground, from weakness or from an overburden; to fail in strength; to decline; to decay; to decrease.

To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.

To cause to sink; to put under water; to immerse or submerge in a fluid; as, to sink a ship.

Figuratively: To cause to decline; to depress; to degrade; hence, to ruin irretrievably; to destroy, as by drowping; as, to sink one's reputation.

To make (a depression) by digging, delving, or cutting, etc.; as, to sink a pit or a well; to sink a die.

To bring low; to reduce in quantity; to waste.

To conseal and appropriate.

To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.

To reduce or extinguish by payment; as, to sink the national debt.

A drain to carry off filthy water; a jakes.

A shallow box or vessel of wood, stone, iron, or other material, connected with a drain, and used for receiving filthy water, etc., as in a kitchen.

A hole or low place in land or rock, where waters sink and are lost; - called also sink hole.

The lowest part of a natural hollow or closed basin whence the water of one or more streams escapes by evaporation; as, the sink of the Humboldt River.

Plumbing fixture consisting of a water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe

(technology) a process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system;

A depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof

A covered cistern; waste water and sewage flow into it

Fall or drop to a lower place or level;

Cause to sink;

Pass into a specified state or condition;

Go under,

Descend into or as if into some soft substance or place;

Appear to move downward;

Fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly;

Fall or sink heavily;

Embed deeply;

Yes, it is often used to describe declines in emotional, economic, or physical states.

Often it is, especially in the context of accidents, but it can be intentional, such as sinking a ship to create a reef.

Objects denser than the fluid they are in, like rocks in water, typically sink.

Primarily, but submerge can refer to any liquid.

Submarines and submersibles are specifically designed to submerge.

Yes, objects like submarines can submerge without sinking to the seabed.

Animals like fish or aquatic mammals use sinking and submerging to navigate and hunt in water.

Sink refers to a passive descent, while submerge is often a deliberate act.

Buoyancy can prevent sinking or assist in controlled submersion.

Skills in handling equipment or controlling breath and body movements are essential.

A submarine diving beneath the water for exploration or military purposes.