Etymology 1

Noun

1. Any of various flowers in the genus Dianthus, sometimes called carnations.

   This garden in particular has a beautiful bed of pinks.

2. excellence, perfection

   Your hat, madam, is the very pink of fashion.

3. hunting pink; scarlet
   • 1986: it is interesting to note the curious legend that the pink of the hunting field is not due to any optical advantage but to an entirely different reason. Formerly no man might hunt even on his own estate until he had a licence of free warren from the Crown. Consequently he merely hunted by the pleasure of the crown, taking part in what was an exclusively Royal sport by Royal permission. And for this Royal sport, he wore the Kings livery of scarlet. — Michael J O'Shea, James Joyce and Heraldry (SUNY 1986, p. 69)
4. A colour between red and white; pale red.

   My new dress is a wonderful shade of pink.

1. One of the colour balls used in snooker with a value of 6 points.
2. The European minnow.
3. A young salmon.
4. A unlettered and uncultured, but relatively prosperous, member of the middle classes; compare babbitt, bourgeoisie.

Adjective

1. Having a colour between red and white; pale red.
2. Of a fox-hunter's jacket: scarlet.
3. Having conjunctivitis.
4. By comparison to red (communist), describing someone who sympathizes with the ideals of communism without actually being a Russian-style communist: a pinko.
   • 1976: Bhalchandra Pundlik Adarkar, The Future of the Constitution: A Critical Analysis

     The word "socialist" has so many connotations that it can cover almost anything from pink liberalism to red-red communism.

Verb

1. To decorate a piece of clothing or fabric by adding holes or by scalloping the fringe.
2. To prick with a sword.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 642:

     ‘Pugh!’ says she, ‘you have pinked a man in a duel, that's all.’

Verb

1. To emit a high "pinking" noise, usually as a result of ill-set ignition timing for the fuel used (in a spark ignition engine).