Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sink or swim

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.91 in modern English

Syllables
sink or swim
IPA
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To succeed through one's own efforts without support, or else fail completely.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Possibly from the practice of throwing a suspected witch into water.

Inflected Forms

sinks or swims (present, singular) sinking or swimming (participle, present) sank or swam (past) sunk or swum (participle, past)

Phrases

do-or-die make-or-break

Frequently Paired Words

do-or-die make-or-break

Questions

What does sink or swim mean?
To succeed through one's own efforts without support, or else fail completely.
Where does sink or swim come from?
Possibly from the practice of throwing a suspected witch into water.

How to pronounce sink or swim

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sink or swim”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sink or swim”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sink or swim” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.