Wiktionary

soak

See also: ṣoak

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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soak (third-person singular simple present soaks, present participle soaking, simple past and past participle soaked)

  1. (intransitive) To be saturated with liquid by being immersed in it.
    I'm going to soak in the bath for a couple of hours.
  2. (transitive) To immerse in liquid to the point of saturation or thorough permeation.
    Soak the beans overnight before cooking.
  3. (intransitive) To penetrate or permeate by saturation.
    The water soaked into my shoes and gave me wet feet.
  4. (transitive) To allow (especially a liquid) to be absorbed; to take in, receive. (usually + up)
    A sponge soaks up water; the skin soaks in moisture.
    I soaked up all the knowledge I could at university.
    • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
      The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
  5. (originally US slang, figurative, transitive) To overcharge or swindle out of a large amount of money.
    Synonym: fleece
    • 1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston, New York, N.Y.: Albert & Charles Boni, page 337:
      It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot. […] Well, they got him in the same kind of jam, and soaked him to the tune of three hundred and eighty-six thousand.
    • 2015, P. J. O'Rourke, Thrown Under the Omnibus: A Reader:
      Sure, if we own an aerospace contracting company, a five-thousand-acre sugar-beet farm, or a savings and loan with the president's son on the board of directors, we can soak Uncle Sucker for millions.
    • 2025 January 31, Ross Douthat, “Steve Bannon on ‘Broligarchs’ vs. Populism”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN:
      I think you’re totally right that there is a big constituency, especially now that the party has been transformed, of Republican- and populist-leaning Republican voters who would be fine with some soaking the rich in the context of a bigger budget deal. […] Just maintaining the changes to the state and local tax deduction that was, I think, one of the genuinely populist victories of the first Trump term. And I should say, it soaked me, it soaked the upper middle class in blue states.
  6. (slang, dated) To drink intemperately or gluttonously.
  7. (metallurgy, transitive) To heat (a metal) before shaping it.
  8. (ceramics, transitive) To hold a kiln at a particular temperature for a given period of time.
    We should soak the kiln at cone 9 for half an hour.
  9. (figurative, transitive) To absorb; to drain.
    • 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC:
      That they will want a certaine sucking and soaking
  10. (slang, chiefly Mormonism) To engage in penetrative sex without hip thrusting.[1]

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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soak (third-person singular simple present soaks, present participle soaking, simple past and past participle soaked)

  1. (transitive) (slang, boxing) To hit or strike.

Noun

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soak (plural soaks)

  1. An immersion in water etc.
    After the strenuous climb, I had a nice long soak in a bath.
    • 2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian‎[3]:
      wildlife tourism has turned Knepp into a successful business that employs more people than it did when it was a farm. Springtime overnighters snuggling down in a luxury treehouse after a soak in the open-air, wood-fired Swedish Hikki bathtub may hear nightingales serenading their consorts
  2. (slang, British) A drunkard.
    Synonyms: alcoholic, souse, suck-pint; see also Thesaurus:drunkard
  3. (slang) A carouse; a drinking session.
  4. (Australia) A low-lying depression that fills with water after rain.
    • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber, published 2003, page 38:
      I set off early to walk along the Melbourne Road where, one of the punters had told me, there was a soak with plenty of frogs in it.
    • 1996, Doris Pinkington, “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence”, in Heiss, Minter, editors, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin, published 2008, page 170:
      Molly and Daisy finished their breakfast and decided to take all their dirty clothes and wash them in the soak further down the river.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Katie Davis (2021 October 1) “What is soaking? Meaning explained”, in The U.S. Sun‎[1]

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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From Dutch zwak (“weak”), from Middle Dutch swac, from Old Dutch *swak, from Proto-West Germanic *swak.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈsoaʔ]
  • Hyphenation: so‧ak

Adjective

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soak

  1. (colloquial) weak
    Synonym: lemah

Further reading

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