Meaning & use
dink
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Meaning
nouncountable
In pickleball, tennis, and similar racket sports, a soft shot hit so it arcs just over the net and lands close to it.
Grammar: Countable: hit a dink, several dinks; often used in pickleball strategy near the non-volley zone.
Patterns
- hit a dink
- a soft dink
- exchange dinks
She answered the fast drive with a gentle dink over the net.
Long rallies at the net can become a patient exchange of dinks.
A well-placed dink forces opponents to lift the ball.
Word forms
| plural | dinks |
|---|
Common combinations
- soft dink
- A soft dink took the pace out of the rally.
- hit a dink
- He chose to hit a dink instead of smashing.
- dink shot
- The dink shot is essential in doubles pickleball.
- exchange dinks
- The partners exchanged dinks until one ball floated too high.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drop shot
- A drop shot is a broader racket-sport shot that falls short; dink is casual and especially central to pickleball net play.
- touch shot
- Touch shot stresses delicate control, while dink names the specific soft, low shot over the net.
Opposites
Word family
- dink verb
- To hit a soft shot just over the net in a racket sport.
Commonly confused: dink or dunk?
dink vs dunk
Dunk means to dip something or slam a basketball; dink is a soft net shot in racket sports.
Practice
In pickleball, a dink is best described as ___.
Choose one answer.
A dink is a soft, controlled shot arcing over the net. A smash is the opposite kind of attacking shot, and a serve starts the point rather than finishing softly at the net.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dink”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.