bunk

¹ American  

[buhngk] / bʌŋk /

noun

1. a built-in platform bed, as on a ship.

2. Informal. any bed.

3. a cabin used for sleeping quarters, as in a summer camp; bunkhouse.

4. a trough for feeding cattle.

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verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to occupy a bunk or any sleeping quarters.

   Joe and Bill bunked together at camp.

verb (used with object)

1. to provide with a place to sleep.

bunk ² American  

[buhngk] / bʌŋk /

noun

Informal.

1. humbug; nonsense.

   Synonyms:

   hooey, bull, applesauce, hogwash, rot, baloney

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bunk ³ American  

[buhngk] / bʌŋk /

verb (used with or without object)

1. Chiefly New York City. to bump.

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bunk ⁴ American  

[buhngk] / bʌŋk /

verb (used with object)

1. to absent oneself from (school, work, etc.).

   to bunk a history class.

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verb (used without object)

1. to run off or away; flee.

   When they heard the distant police sirens, they dropped the bag of jewelry and silver and bunked.

idioms

1. do a bunk, to leave hastily, especially under suspicious circumstances; run away.

bunk ¹ British  

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. a narrow shelflike bed fixed along a wall

2. short for bunk bed

3. informal any place where one sleeps

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verb

1. to prepare to sleep

   he bunked down on the floor

2. (intr) to occupy a bunk or bed

3. (tr) to provide with a bunk or bed

bunk ² British  

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. a hurried departure, usually under suspicious circumstances (esp in the phrase do a bunk )

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verb

1. (usually foll by off) to play truant from (school, work, etc)

bunk ³ British  

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. informal short for bunkum

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Etymology

Origin of bunk¹

First recorded in 1750–60; back formation from bunker

Origin of bunk²

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; short for bunkum

Origin of bunk³

Perhaps expressive alteration of bump

Origin of bunk⁴

First recorded in 1865–70; perhaps special use of bunk ¹

Explanation

A bunk is a bed that's built above another bed. Twin sisters might argue nightly over who gets the top bunk. You might find a bunk bed in a child's bedroom or a train's sleeper car. Sometimes the rough bed in a rustic cabin is also called a bunk — and you could say, "I'll bunk in the cabin tonight." Informally, bunk is also nonsense: "How can you believe that bunk?" The bed meaning is short for bunker, while the "foolishness" definition is from bunkum, named for a politician's long, dull speech in 1820, in Buncombe, North Carolina.

Example Sentences

As the flames spread, blocking the exits for those crowded in the bunk room below, a member of Boylan’s crew twice ran right by a 50-foot fire hose overhead, trial evidence showed.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

Found unresponsive in his bunk, his death was ruled due to hypertensive and cardiovascular disease.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2026

As we perch on the top bunk of the carriage where he is sitting with another friend, Stas is frank about the impact of the war on his generation.

From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026

Second, the debate about the quantity vs. the quality of time we spend with our kids is bunk, to use the cleaned-up version of a word my mother liked.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

And she turned and ran back down into her cabin, down to her bunk.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Related Words

• baloney
• rubbish