bunch
Americannoun
-
bunches
plural
verb (used with object)
-
bunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bunched,
past participle, past
-
bunching
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
bunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bunched,
past participle, past
-
bunching
present participle
-
to gather into a cluster; gather together.
-
(of fabric or clothing) to gather into folds (often followed byup ).
noun
-
a number of things growing, fastened, or grouped together
a bunch of grapes
a bunch of keys
-
a collection; group
a bunch of queries
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informal a group or company
a bunch of boys
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archaic a protuberance
verb
Usage
What is a basic definition of bunch? A bunch is a group of things. Bunch can also specifically mean a group that is connected together. Used informally, a bunch is a group of people. As a verb, bunch means to gather into a group. A bunch is a collection or group of items gathered into one place. If you have a bunch of papers on your desk, for example, you have many papers on your desk.
- Used in a sentence: Angela was happy to see that there were a bunch of presents under the Christmas tree.
- Real-life examples: You might eat from a bunch of grapes and be left with just the stem. A maintenance person usually carries a bunch of keys on a ring.
- Used in a sentence: I bought a small bunch of bananas.
- Used in a sentence: A bunch of kids ran past us to watch the clown perform magic tricks.
- Used in a sentence: I bunched all of the wrapping paper into a ball and threw it in the trash.
Synonym Usage
See bundle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bunchsimple
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bunchessimple
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have bunchedperfect
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has bunchedperfect
-
am bunchingprogressive
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are bunchingprogressive
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is bunchingprogressive
-
have been bunchingperfect progressive
-
has been bunchingperfect progressive
Past
-
bunchedsimple
-
had bunchedperfect
-
was bunchingprogressive
-
were bunchingprogressive
-
had been bunchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bunch
1275–1325; Middle English bunche; of uncertain origin
Explanation
A group or cluster of something is a bunch. It could be a bunch of people or a bunch of grapes. If you pick a bunch of bananas, you might end up being followed by a bunch of monkeys. When you use the word bunch, you're generally talking about an approximate number of similar items, like a bunch of flowers or a bunch of cats or a bunch of your friends meeting for dinner. The verb bunch means "gather together," or "form into a bunch," the way you might bunch daisies together in a vase, or your socks might bunch down inside your boots.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“All you have to do is take a bunch of pictures of people biting into something going ‘ew,’ and that creates a whole lot of excitement,” DuBois, of Circana, said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The name caught on in 1969 when an announcer said that even though the Hickman football team was losing, they were “smiling like a bunch of Kewpies.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The pick of the bunch was his chip over keeper Manuel Almunia to complete his hat-trick.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
I also had a bunch of clothes I no longer needed, so I used the resale app Vinted to sell them, and made $106.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
There were plants to prop up that had toppled over in the wind, weeds to pull, strawberries to nibble, and a huge bunch of bananas just green enough to pick.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Throw in four bunches of baby bok choy and stir to coat them in flavored oil.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
The house's drive was cordoned off and bunches of flowers were laid on a hedge outside the house.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
In the Southern California Division I regional playoffs, LeDuc has watched his Damien players make threes in bunches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
On a bridge next to the Kremlin on a drizzly Friday morning, a lone Russian police officer stood looking at the half-dozen bunches of flowers laying in memory of slain opposition figure Boris Nemtsov.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
They climb up to a platform in the greenheart where the woman pauses for balance, bunches her long skirts into one hand, and prepares to walk out into the brighter light and rain.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Cassidy, Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow, and state treasurer John Fleming have been relatively bunched in the polling.
From Slate ● May 16, 2026
"I feel like it's always very bunched here," said Canada's Taylor.
From Barron's ● Jan. 18, 2026
But he said spending was bunched in the last few weeks before Christmas, which was probably due to people waiting to see what was announced in the Budget.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2026
He says he knows from experience the perilous nature of racing, with jockeys balanced over a saddle the size of a large handkerchief and horses bunched together running up to 40 miles an hour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
The girls bunched together and did a lot of laughing to pretend like they were having a good time.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Even those who missed the boat on opening a DAF last year might find it useful for bunching deductions into one tax year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
In other cases, the bunching strategy may work best for people who push up their charitable contributions and state and local tax payments into this year.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2025
This phenomenon is known as "bus bunching", and it can be annoying.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
Layered strips of vinyl and leather drape from the top, which is roughly the height of a standing person, bunching into turbulent swirls around the bottom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
We hurried for the car, bunching around Nicole.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
