stänka

Stänka is a Swedish verb that generally denotes applying a liquid to a surface in a splattering, speckling, or staining manner. It is used for actions where droplets or patches of liquid are produced rather than a uniform coating. In painting or crafts, it can describe adding pigment as droplets or irregular spots; in cleaning or cooking contexts, it may refer to dipping or dabbing a small amount of liquid onto something, producing a mark or smear. The term is most often encountered in older or regional usage, with more common everyday alternatives such as spraya (to spray) or stänkna in other phrasing.

Etymology and related forms: Stänka is descended from older North Germanic roots tied to the concept of splashing or spraying. It has cognates in neighboring Scandinavian languages, with related forms in Danish and Norwegian that carry a similar sense of splashing or staining. In Swedish, stänka belongs to the class of regular -a verbs, and its principal forms are stänker (present), stänkte (past), and stänkt (supine).

Usage notes: In contemporary standard Swedish, stänka is relatively rare outside particular technical or literary contexts. It is more likely to appear in descriptions of processes that involve visible splatters or spots, such as certain painting techniques, printmaking, or historical manuals discussing staining or splattering methods. The noun stänk describes the splash or spray itself, and the verb can be used with prepositional phrases such as stänka ner (to splatter onto) or stänka färg (to apply pigment as droplets).

See also: stänk (splash), stänkning (sprinkling/splashing), spraya (to spray).