Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A contemptible person.
- noun An informer.
- noun A hired strikebreaker.
- intransitive verb To inform against another person.
- intransitive verb To withhold promised support or participation.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun slang Someone who
betrays atrust . - verb slang To betray a trust.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Maybe they routinely slept with undergrads as TA's and no one ever wanted to be known as the fink who turned them in.
Ferule & Fescue Flavia 2006
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In my family, it was considered an insult to be called a fink and even worse to be called a ratfink.
wilberteets Diary Entry wilberteets 2005
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He don 'fink 'bout dem mooch only w'en he git dronk, or git scairt.
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Cockney sweetness and a slight speech impediment ( "fink" for
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The potheads, though, believe she is a fink for abandoning their narcotized orbit.
Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2010
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In fact, the word “fink” is sprayed on her locker.
Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2010
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Mr. Fitz would say, “Doan fink too mush how bad you feel, jus know you feel and keep koing.”
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011
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Rat fink reporter types go for the scourge of Baltimore, HL Mencken, whose collected Prejudices have just been published.
Simon Jenkins: Half a Century After Mencken's Death, Opinion Is What is Riding High Simon Jenkins 2011
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Doan fink too mush how bad you feel, jus know you feel and keep koing.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011
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Every time I think of him I can still hear him say, “Doan fink too mush how bad you feel, jus know you feel and keep koing.”
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011
seanahan commented on the word fink
There are a number of opposing ideas for the etymology of this word. I feel very strongly that we need to root out the true source.
October 21, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word fink
Is ratfink a subspecies?
October 22, 2007
yarb commented on the word fink
Now the sheets are brown-stained and arctic,
oh! love's a perfidious fink,
and I snuffle the bed like a truffle-pig
desperate to retrace his stink.
- Peter Reading, Song of the Bedsit Girl, from Tom O' Bedlam's Beauties, 1981
June 29, 2008