past participle of sink / (dialectal) past tense of sink

past participle of sink in

(economics) A cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree.

plural of sunk cost

A ditch or watercourse.

plural of sunk fence

(nonstandard) past participle of sync up

The phenomenon where somebody justifies an increased investment of money or other resources based on the cumulative prior investment (the sunk costs), despite new evidence suggesting that the cost of continuing now outweighs the expected benefit.

plural of sunk costs fallacy

(archaic) past participle of sink