\Ink\, n. (Mach.)
The step, or socket, in which the lower end of a millstone
spindle runs.

\Ink\, n. [OE. enke, inke, OF. enque, F. encre, L. encaustum
the purple red ink with which the Roman emperors signed their
edicts, Gr. ?, fr. ? burnt in, encaustic, fr. ? to burn in.
See {Encaustic}, {Caustic}.]
1. A fluid, or a viscous material or preparation of various
   kinds (commonly black or colored), used in writing or
   printing.
         Make there a prick with ink.          --Chaucer.
         Deformed monsters, foul and black as ink. --Spenser.
2. A pigment. See {India ink}, under {India}.
Note: Ordinarily, black ink is made from nutgalls and a
      solution of some salt of iron, and consists essentially
      of a tannate or gallate of iron; sometimes indigo
      sulphate, or other coloring matter,is added. Other
      black inks contain potassium chromate, and extract of
      logwood, salts of vanadium, etc. Blue ink is usually a
      solution of Prussian blue. Red ink was formerly made
      from carmine (cochineal), Brazil wood, etc., but
      potassium eosin is now used. Also red, blue, violet,
      and yellow inks are largely made from aniline dyes.
      Indelible ink is usually a weak solution of silver
      nitrate, but carbon in the form of lampblack or India
      ink, salts of molybdenum, vanadium, etc., are also
      used. Sympathetic inks may be made of milk, salts of
      cobalt, etc. See {Sympathetic ink} (below).
{Copying ink}, a peculiar ink used for writings of which
   copies by impression are to be taken.
{Ink bag} (Zo["o]l.), an ink sac.
{Ink berry}. (Bot.)
   (a) A shrub of the Holly family ({Ilex glabra}), found in
       sandy grounds along the coast from New England to
       Florida, and producing a small black berry.
   (b) The West Indian indigo berry. See {Indigo}.
{Ink plant} (Bot.), a New Zealand shrub ({Coriaria
   thumifolia}), the berries of which uield a juice which
   forms an ink.
{Ink powder}, a powder from which ink is made by solution.
{Ink sac} (Zo["o]l.), an organ, found in most cephalopods,
   containing an inky fluid which can be ejected from a duct
   opening at the base of the siphon. The fluid serves to
   cloud the water, and enable these animals to escape from
   their enemies. See Illust. of {Dibranchiata}.
{Printer's ink}, or {Printing ink}. See under {Printing}.
{Sympathetic ink}, a writing fluid of such a nature that what
   is written remains invisible till the action of a reagent
   on the characters makes it visible.

\Ink\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Inked} ([i^][ng]kt); p. pr. &
vb. n. {Inking}.]
To put ink upon; to supply with ink; to blacken, color, or
daub with ink.