bunk

¹

[buhngk]

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.

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

[buhngk]

noun

Informal.

1. humbug; nonsense.

   Synonyms: hooey, bull, applesauce, hogwash, rot, baloney

bunk

³

[buhngk]

verb (used with or without object)

1. Chiefly New York City.,  to bump.

bunk

⁴

[buhngk]

verb (used with object)

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

   to bunk a history class.

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.

bunk

¹

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. a narrow shelflike bed fixed along a wall

2. short for bunk bed

3. informal,  any place where one sleeps

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

/ bʌŋk /

noun

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

verb

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

bunk

³

/ bʌŋk /

noun

1. informal,  short for bunkum

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunk¹

C19: probably short for _bunker

Origin of bunk²

C19: perhaps from _bunk ¹ (in the sense: to occupy a bunk, hence a hurried departure, as on a ship)

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Example Sentences

Four people were bunked in rooms so small that two could barely stand side-by-side, according to Millspaugh and another former resident.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even many of the most prominent leaders of the original conversion therapy movement have come to admit that the whole thing was a pile of bunk.

Read more on Salon

Men sleep in locked cells every night on bunk beds with thin cotton blankets.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The bunk beds were all taken, Chul-yong said, by the time he arrived, leaving him and others to find any empty spot to rest, even an empty desk where they could put their head down.

Read more on BBC

Earlier this month, areas with space for around 65 detainees were holding more than 100, with cots spread across the floor between bunk beds.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• baloney 
• rubbish