SOAK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does soak mean? 

• SOAK (noun)
  The noun SOAK has 2 senses:

1. the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid)

2. washing something by allowing it to soak

  Familiarity information: SOAK used as a noun is rare.

• SOAK (verb)
  The verb SOAK has 9 senses:

1. submerge in a liquid

2. rip off; ask an unreasonable price

3. cover with liquid; pour liquid onto

4. leave as a guarantee in return for money

5. beat severely

6. make drunk (with alcoholic drinks)

7. become drunk or drink excessively

8. fill, soak, or imbue totally

9. heat a metal prior to working it

  Familiarity information: SOAK used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOAK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

soak; soakage; soaking

Context example:

a good soak put life back in the wagon

Hypernyms ("soak" is a kind of...):

action; activity; natural action; natural process (a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings))

Derivation:

soak (fill, soak, or imbue totally)

soak (submerge in a liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Washing something by allowing it to soak

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

soak; soaking

Hypernyms ("soak" is a kind of...):

lavation; wash; washing (the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water))

• SOAK (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Submerge in a liquid

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

I soaked in the hot tub for an hour

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

immerse; plunge (thrust or throw into)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

soak; soakage (the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid))

soaking (washing something by allowing it to soak)

soaking (the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rip off; ask an unreasonable price

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

fleece; gazump; hook; overcharge; pluck; plume; rob; soak; surcharge

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

cheat; chisel; rip off (deprive somebody of something by deceit)

"Soak" entails doing...:

bill; charge (demand payment)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "soak"):

extort; gouge; rack; squeeze; wring (obtain by coercion or intimidation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cover with liquid; pour liquid onto

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

douse; dowse; drench; soak; sop; souse

Context example:

souse water on his hot face

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

wet (cause to become wet)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "soak"):

brine (soak in brine)

bedraggle; draggle (make wet and dirty, as from rain)

bate (soak in a special solution to soften and remove chemicals used in previous treatments)

ret (place (flax, hemp, or jute) in liquid so as to promote loosening of the fibers from the woody tissue)

flush; sluice (irrigate with water from a sluice)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They soak the cloth with water and alcohol

Derivation:

soaker (a heavy rain)

soaking (the act of making something completely wet)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Leave as a guarantee in return for money

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

hock; pawn; soak

Context example:

pawn your grandfather's gold watch

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

charge; consign (give over to another for care or safekeeping)

Domain category:

commerce; commercialism; mercantilism (transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Beat severely

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

beat; beat up; work over (give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to soak the prisoners

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make drunk (with alcoholic drinks)

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

inebriate; intoxicate; soak

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

affect (act physically on; have an effect upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "soak"):

befuddle; fuddle (make stupid with alcohol)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Become drunk or drink excessively

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

hit it up; inebriate; soak; souse

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

booze; drink; fuddle; hit the bottle (consume alcohol)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

soaker (a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Fill, soak, or imbue totally

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

imbue; soak

Context example:

soak the bandage with disinfectant

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

impregnate; saturate (infuse or fill completely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "soak"):

infuse; steep (let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse)

brew (sit or let sit in boiling water so as to extract the flavor)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

Water and alcohol soak the cloth

Derivation:

soak (the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid))

Sense 9

Meaning:

Heat a metal prior to working it

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "soak" is one way to...):

heat; heat up (make hot or hotter)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

"We now know that the oceans cooled much more in some regions. Cold water has the potential to soak up a lot more carbon from the atmosphere than past studies accounted for."

(Why atmospheric carbon dioxide was lower during ice ages, National Science Foundation)

Oxygen, which passes easily through paper, could soak up electrons produced by the bacteria before they reach the electrode.

(New Type of Battery Created from Paper, Fueled by Bacteria, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Well, a great deal must have soaked through, must it not?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A body lay within, its head all wreathed in cotton-wool, which had been soaked in the narcotic.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By the twang of string! if I do not soak a goose's feather with his heart's blood, it will be no fault of Samkin Aylward of the White Company.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Martin must be soaked with it, Ruth concluded, if that awful woman washed frequently.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

If blood soaks through, add more gauze, keeping the first layer in place.

(First Aid, NIH)

To my surprise, my clothes had dried on me and there seemed no indications of catching cold, either from the last soaking or from the prolonged soaking from the foundering of the Martinez.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

My aunt went on with a quiet enjoyment, in which there was very little affectation, if any; drinking the warm ale with a tea-spoon, and soaking her strips of toast in it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Protecting marine life could help the oceans to function better, soaking up more carbon and providing barriers against sea level rises and storm surges, in the form of coral reefs and mangrove swamps.

(Oceans running out of oxygen at unprecedented rate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)