bunker

[buhng-ker]

noun

1. a large bin or receptacle; a fixed chest or box.

   a coal bunker.

2. a fortification set mostly below the surface of the ground with overhead protection provided by logs and earth or by concrete and fitted with openings through which guns may be fired.

3. Golf.,  any obstacle, as a sand trap or mound of dirt, constituting a hazard.

verb (used with object)

1. Nautical.

   1. to provide fuel for (a vessel).

   2. to convey (bulk cargo, except grain) from a vessel to an adjacent storehouse.

2. Golf.,  to hit (a ball) into a bunker.

3. to equip with or as if with bunkers.

   to bunker an army's defenses.

bunker

/ ˈbʌŋkə /

noun

1. a large storage container or tank, as for coal

2. Also called (esp US and Canadian): sand trap. an obstacle on a golf course, usually a sand-filled hollow bordered by a ridge

3. an underground shelter, often of reinforced concrete and with a bank and embrasures for guns above ground

verb

1. (tr) golf

   1. to drive (the ball) into a bunker

   2. (passive) to have one's ball trapped in a bunker

2. (tr) nautical

   1. to fuel (a ship)

   2. to transfer (cargo) from a ship to a storehouse

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunker¹

First recorded in 1750–60; earlier bonkar ( Scots ) “box, chest, serving also as a seat,” of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunker¹

C16 (in the sense: chest, box): from Scottish bonkar , of unknown origin

Example Sentences

“If telephone poles sunk into the soil worked for 75 years, why do we need to build Hitler’s bunker under the sand?”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He also brings his quirkiness to more serious roles, including a childlike loner in a bunker society in the dystopian “Silo.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We thought that there could be missile attacks and we would be safe if we stay underground, in the bunkers."

Read more on BBC

Civilians say the daily strikes force them to spend most of their time underground, in small makeshift bunkers families have dug into their backyards.

Read more on Barron's

Asked last year if he was creating a doomsday bunker, the Facebook founder gave a flat "no".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• dugout 
• fortification 
• shelter