bunker

[buhng-ker]

noun

1. a large bin or receptacle; a fixed chest or box.

   a coal bunker.

2. a fortification set mostly below the surface of the ground with overhead protection provided by logs and earth or by concrete and fitted with openings through which guns may be fired.

3. Golf.,  any obstacle, as a sand trap or mound of dirt, constituting a hazard.

verb (used with object)

1. Nautical.

   1. to provide fuel for (a vessel).

   2. to convey (bulk cargo, except grain) from a vessel to an adjacent storehouse.

2. Golf.,  to hit (a ball) into a bunker.

3. to equip with or as if with bunkers.

   to bunker an army's defenses.

bunker

/ ˈbʌŋkə /

noun

1. a large storage container or tank, as for coal

2. Also called (esp US and Canadian): sand trap. an obstacle on a golf course, usually a sand-filled hollow bordered by a ridge

3. an underground shelter, often of reinforced concrete and with a bank and embrasures for guns above ground

verb

1. (tr) golf

   1. to drive (the ball) into a bunker

   2. (passive) to have one's ball trapped in a bunker

2. (tr) nautical

   1. to fuel (a ship)

   2. to transfer (cargo) from a ship to a storehouse

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunker¹

First recorded in 1750–60; earlier bonkar ( Scots ) “box, chest, serving also as a seat,” of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of bunker¹

C16 (in the sense: chest, box): from Scottish bonkar , of unknown origin

Example Sentences

Military officials quoted in Israeli media say troops are proceeding with caution, with the expectation of some 2,000 Hamas fighters bunkered in the city.

From Los Angeles Times

He was denied a share of the lead only after a chip into a bunker on the par-four 14th led to a double bogey.

From BBC

Former Ivory Coast First Lady Simone Gbagbo has gone from hiding in a bunker in an attempt to avoid arrest to defiantly announcing she will run for president.

From BBC

Fire-resilient buildings don’t have to be soulless, formulaic bunkers, according to the student designers of the Resilient Futures Lab, a summer studio at Pasadena’s ArtCenter College.

From Los Angeles Times

On the drive in along a muddy track we saw Thai soldiers in camouflaged bunkers hidden in the trees.

From BBC

Related Words

• dugout 
• fortification 
• shelter