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.

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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.

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Discover More

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

Example Sentences

The train had been travelling from Dunkirk to Paris.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

Greenpeace members on Saturday filmed the loading of about 10 containers with radioactive labels onto a cargo ship in the Channel port of Dunkirk, the NGO said.

From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025

Now Abdullah does the same, asking me to send photos showing my journey to the forest from a bus stop in Dunkirk.

From BBC • Aug. 10, 2025

Based on that video, and on other details, we believe this is the same Abdullah our undercover reporter would go on to meet in the forests around Dunkirk.

From BBC • Aug. 5, 2025

But there was one part in all this that he could not think through, one indistinct shape that the shambles twelve miles outside Dunkirk could not reduce to a simple outline.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan