Dunkirk

American  

[duhn-kurk] / ˈdʌn kɜrk /

noun

1. French Dunkerque.  a seaport in N France: site of the evacuation of a British expeditionary force of over 330,000 men under German fire May 29–June 4, 1940.

2. a period of crisis or emergency when drastic measures must be enforced.

   The smaller nations were facing a financial Dunkirk.

3. a city in W New York, on Lake Erie.

---

Dunkirk Cultural  

1. The scene of a remarkable, though ignominious, retreat by the British army in World War II. Dunkirk, a town on the northern coast of France, was the last refuge of the British during the fall of France, and several hundred naval and civilian vessels took the troops back to England in shifts over three days.

---

Discover More

The term Dunkirk is sometimes used to signify a desperate retreat.

Example Sentences

Blum said that Schneider would take part in the design and supply of all the equipment with a factory to be built at the channel port of Dunkirk.

From Barron's • May 30, 2026

SoftBank said late Saturday that its initial investment, denominated in euros at €45 billion, aims to deliver up to 3.1 gigawatts of computing capacity across France at sites in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain by 2031.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026

The first three data centres would be at Dunkirk and near the northern cities of Cambrai and Amiens, he added.

From Barron's • May 30, 2026

We sent an undercover researcher, posing as a migrant trying to cross the Channel illegally with his child, into a migrant camp in Dunkirk.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

From their entrenchments along the Aisne River, the Germans had advanced northward toward the French ports of Dunkirk and Calais on the English Channel.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman