bun

[buhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bun ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of a wide variety of variously shaped bread rolls, usually leavened and slightly sweetened or plain, sometimes containing spices, dried currants, etc.

hair gathered into a round coil or knot at the nape of the neck or on top of the head in certain coiffures.

buns, Slang. the buttocks.

Origin of bun

1325–75; Middle English bunne, of obscure origin

bun

[buhn]

Idioms

have a bun on, Slang. to be intoxicated: Everyone at the party seemed to have a bun on.

Origin of bun

First recorded in 1900–05; of uncertain origin

BUN

blood urea nitrogen: the concentration of nitrogen in the blood in the form of urea, indicating kidney function.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bun

doughnut, pastry, bread, muffin, scone, Danish, eclair, cruller

Examples from the Web for bun

Contemporary Examples of bun

No mayonnaise, only butter, which had been absorbed, sponge-style, into the bun.
My Big, Buttery Lobster Roll Rumble: We Came, We Clawed, We Conquered
Scott Bixby
June 7, 2014
She was smiling, hair pulled back neatly in a bun, and 32 at the time of her death.
The Names You Don’t Hear: Nearly 200 Women Have Died in Iraq and Afghanistan
Kate Hoit
May 26, 2014
The $6 item comes with a bun and burger along with cheese, ketchup, pickles, and requires about 10 minutes of cooking time.
Camel in a Can and 6 More Weird Canned Meats
January 5, 2014
“We were very careful about how we got the bun in there,” said Newlands.
The Appeal of Cinnabon Vodka and the Rise of Flavored Vodkas
Daniel Gross
November 22, 2013
As Mrs. Bun quickly realizes, trying to order anything without spam will only get you into trouble.
11 Best Monty Python Moments
Natasha Bach
November 20, 2013

Historical Examples of bun

I might, unnoticed, of course, snatch a bun from its grasp now and then.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
He smelled of the apple, and he looked at the bun, but that was all.
Harper's Young People, July 27, 1880
Various
I want you up here to help me and Bun Hin's Chinaman to count that money.
Typhoon
Joseph Conrad
I was thinkin' 't was 'most a pity you hadn't had bun sandwiches.
Peak and Prairie
Anna Fuller
Her eyes looked like raisins in a bun and her mouth had almost disappeared.
Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman
Emma Speed Sampson

British Dictionary definitions for bun

bun

noun

a small roll, similar to bread but usually containing sweetening, currants, spices, etc

any of various types of small round sweet cakes

a hairstyle in which long hair is gathered into a bun shape at the back of the head

have a bun in the oven slang to be pregnant

Word Origin for bun

C14: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bun

late 14c., origin obscure, perhaps from Old French buignete "a fritter," originally "boil, swelling," diminutive of buigne "swelling from a blow, bump on the head," from a Germanic source (cf. Middle High German bunge "clod, lump"), or from Gaulish *bunia (cf. Gaelic bonnach). Spanish buñelo "a fritter" apparently is from the same source. Of hair coiled at the back of the head, first attested 1894. To have a bun in the oven "be pregnant" is from 1951.

The first record of buns in the sense of "male buttocks" is from 1960s, perhaps from a perceived similarity; but bun also meant "tail of a hare" (1530s) in Scottish and northern England dialect and was transferred to human beings (and conveniently rhymed with nun in ribald ballads). This may be an entirely different word; OED points to Gaelic bun "stump, root."

bun in Medicine

BUN

abbr.

blood urea nitrogen