bunk

¹

[buhngk]

noun

1. a built-in platform bed, as on a ship.

2. Informal.,  any bed.

3. a cabin used for sleeping quarters, as in a summer camp; bunkhouse.

4. a trough for feeding cattle.

verb (used without object)

1. Informal.,  to occupy a bunk or any sleeping quarters.

   Joe and Bill bunked together at camp.

verb (used with object)

1. to provide with a place to sleep.

bunk

²

[buhngk]

noun

Informal.

1. humbug; nonsense.

   Synonyms: hooey, bull, applesauce, hogwash, rot, baloney

bunk

³

[buhngk]

verb (used with or without object)

1. Chiefly New York City.,  to bump.

bunk

⁴

[buhngk]

verb (used with object)

1. to absent oneself from (school, work, etc.).

   to bunk a history class.

verb (used without object)

1. to run off or away; flee.

   When they heard the distant police sirens, they dropped the bag of jewelry and silver and bunked.

bunk

¹

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. a narrow shelflike bed fixed along a wall

2. short for bunk bed

3. informal,  any place where one sleeps

verb

1. to prepare to sleep

   he bunked down on the floor

2. (intr) to occupy a bunk or bed

3. (tr) to provide with a bunk or bed

bunk

²

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. a hurried departure, usually under suspicious circumstances (esp in the phrase do a bunk )

verb

1. (usually foll by off) to play truant from (school, work, etc)

bunk

³

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. informal,  short for bunkum

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunk¹

First recorded in 1750–60; back formation from bunker

Origin of bunk²

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; short for bunkum

Origin of bunk³

Perhaps expressive alteration of bump

Origin of bunk⁴

First recorded in 1865–70; perhaps special use of bunk ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunk¹

C19: probably short for _bunker

Origin of bunk²

C19: perhaps from _bunk ¹ (in the sense: to occupy a bunk, hence a hurried departure, as on a ship)

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. do a bunk, to leave hastily, especially under suspicious circumstances; run away.

Example Sentences

On board, Nikolai was keeping an eye on a package slid under his bunk.

Read more on Barron's

He and his family settled in a small room with bunk beds and a TV, one of many rooms in a large hangar in the sweltering desert.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Guardsmen “hot-sacked” their twin bunks, with the man coming off duty hopping into the still-warm bed of the man starting his shift.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She was escorted to the recreation area for late-night workouts, and was allowed to shower after other inmates were confined to their bunks at 8 p.m.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Four people were bunked in rooms so small that two could barely stand side-by-side, according to Millspaugh and another former resident.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• baloney 
• rubbish