kitchen sink
kitchen sink
Pronunciation
kitchen sink
IPA Phonetic Spelling: /ˈkɪtʃən sɪŋk/
kit- /kɪt/ - a voiceless velar plosive /k/, followed by a short front vowel /ɪ/, and a voiceless alveolar stop /t/.
-chen /ʃən/ - a voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, followed by a schwa /ə/, and a voiced alveolar nasal /n/.
sink /sɪŋk/ - a voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, followed by a short front vowel /ɪ/, a voiced velar nasal /ŋ/, and a voiceless velar plosive /k/.
Word Form Variations
Singular: kitchen sink
Plural: kitchen sinks
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
A basin, typically made of stainless steel, porcelain, or composite materials, with a faucet for hot and cold water, used for washing dishes, preparing food, and other tasks in a kitchen.
Synonyms: scullery sink, washbasin (in a kitchen context)
Antonyms: (none, as it's a specific object)
(Figurative, often in the phrase "everything but the kitchen sink") A comprehensive and often excessive collection of items or details, implying that nothing has been left out.
Synonyms: everything, the whole shebang, the works, a multitude
Antonyms: a few things, a small amount, a trifle
Adjective
(Often used in hyphenated form, e.g., "kitchen-sink drama") A style of art, film, or literature characterized by a raw, realistic depiction of everyday life, often focusing on the struggles of working-class people.
Synonyms: realistic, gritty, naturalist, unvarnished
Antonyms: idealistic, fantastical, escapist, stylized
Examples of Use
Books
In her novel, The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett writes, "She had been a girl who thought a kitchen sink was a kitchen sink." This highlights a character's simple, direct perspective.
The novel Kitchen Sink by Brian O'Malley is a coming-of-age story that uses the object as a central metaphor for the protagonist's life, which is full of messy, everyday details.
Kitchen Sink Press: The First 25 Years by Denis Kitchen details the history of the groundbreaking underground comic book publisher, with the title playing on the common phrase to suggest a wide range of creative content.
Newspapers & Online Publications
A New York Times article from January 2024 about home renovation trends noted, "The farmhouse-style kitchen sink, once a staple of modern design, is now giving way to sleek, undermounted models."
In a blog post for The Guardian, a columnist wrote about a new law, stating, "The bill threw everything but the kitchen sink at the problem, attempting to address everything from corporate tax to small business loans in one unwieldy piece of legislation." (March 2023)
An article in Architectural Digest from June 2024 featured a celebrity's home, describing the kitchen: "The expansive island is anchored by a large, copper kitchen sink, a striking focal point in the minimalist space."
Entertainment Media and Platforms
In the movie Tropic Thunder, a character sarcastically remarks on a screenplay, saying, "This script has everything but the kitchen sink." This is a humorous jab at the story's overly complicated plot.
The YouTube channel Home RenoVision DIY has a video titled "How to Install a Kitchen Sink," which has garnered millions of views, demonstrating its common use in practical instructional content.
The 1960 film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a classic example of "kitchen sink realism," a genre of British cinema that depicted the harsh realities of working-class life.
10 Famous Quotes Using Kitchen Sink
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” — Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
"Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink." — Andre Agassi, Open
“I made 'True Detective' like it was going to be the only thing I ever made for television. So put in everything and the kitchen sink.” — Nic Pizzolatto
“So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink, put you to bed when you've had too much to drink.” — Adam Sandler, "I Wanna Grow Old With You"
“When you’re writing about people that are not very well off, you seem to see the kitchen sink. So it was a bit of a sort of cosy phrase that got used a bit too much.” — Timothy West
"You throw the kitchen sink at your early books. You put everything in there. It's like when you meet a new girlfriend or boyfriend, you tell them all your best stories." — Mark Billingham
“Collage is not a kitchen sink; it's not a refuge for the compositionally disabled.” — David Shields
“I was always very aware of drummers. My oldest brother Henry was a drummer, and he drummed on everything in the house from the kitchen sink to stovepipes.” — Dave Brubeck
“By dumping the kitchen sink of scientific references in a paper, one can make another literary intellectual believe that one's m” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“You know, what I like about The Family Tree is it's a kitchen sink movie; you can't think of anything that it doesn't either throw into the story for conflict or poke fun at or attack, even, so I like it.” — Dermot Mulroney
Etymology
The etymology of "kitchen sink" is straightforward, as it's a compound word combining "kitchen" and "sink." The word "kitchen" comes from the Old English word cycene, which itself is derived from a Latin word meaning "to cook." The word "sink" comes from the Old English word sincan, meaning "to fall or go down."
The term "kitchen sink" was first recorded in the late 1500s, referring to the physical object—the basin used for washing in a kitchen.
The phrase "everything but the kitchen sink" is where the word's figurative meaning comes from. This idiom is believed to have originated from a variation, "everything but the kitchen stove," which was used in the early 20th century. The more common "kitchen sink" version gained popularity during World War II, likely in military slang, to describe an intense bombardment where a military force threw absolutely everything they had at an enemy, with the kitchen sink being the one thing so heavy and immovable that it would be the only thing left behind.
From this, the term came to mean a comprehensive or excessive collection of items, implying that nothing has been left out. It also gave rise to the term "kitchen-sink realism," a British art movement from the 1950s and '60s that depicted the raw, unglamorous realities of working-class life.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Kitchen Sink
Everything but the kitchen sink: To include or throw a vast, exhaustive, and often excessive number of items, ideas, or details into something.
Kitchen-sink drama/realism: A style of art, film, or literature that depicts the mundane, difficult, and unglamorous realities of everyday working-class life.
The kitchen sink approach: A method of doing something that involves using every possible tool, strategy, or resource available, often without a clear plan.
To go down the kitchen sink: A phrase to describe something being completely lost or wasted, often used in a self-deprecating or humorous way.
The kitchen sink philosophy: A worldview that embraces and finds value in the messy, imperfect, and mundane aspects of daily existence, as opposed to seeking only grand or idealized experiences.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of kitchen sink from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
