kitchen sink

¹

noun

1. the final item imaginable on any extensive list of usually disparate items.

   He packed everything for his trip except the kitchen sink.

kitchen-sink

²

[kich-uhn-singk]

adjective

1. marked by an indiscriminate and omnivorous use of elements.

   a kitchen-sink approach to moviemaking.

kitchen sink

noun

1. a sink in a kitchen for washing dishes, vegetables, etc

2. everything that can be conceived of

3. (modifier) denoting a type of drama or painting of the 1950s depicting the sordid aspects of domestic reality

Word History and Origins

Origin of kitchen sink¹

1870–75, for literal sense

Origin of kitchen sink²

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

"My feet came off the floor and he pushed me over the kitchen sink."

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“Downside to estimates remains. Above all, we caution investors that the business has not yet had its ‘kitchen sink’ moment.”

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One morning last year, John Gladwin opened the cupboard under his kitchen sink and discovered a bag of soil he'd been storing there was torn to shreds.

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Jake Haro said he was giving the baby girl a bath in a kitchen sink and accidentally dropped her but a doctor’s report said the girl’s injuries did not fit that narrative.

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Jake Haro told police that he accidentally dropped the baby into a center divider in their kitchen sink while giving her a bath, but the doctor said the injuries did not fit that narrative.

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