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bunker

[ buhng-ker ]
/ ˈbʌŋ kər /
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noun
a large bin or receptacle; a fixed chest or box: a coal bunker.
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.
Golf. any obstacle, as a sand trap or mound of dirt, constituting a hazard.
verb (used with object)
Nautical.
  1. to provide fuel for (a vessel).
  2. to convey (bulk cargo, except grain) from a vessel to an adjacent storehouse.
Golf. to hit (a ball) into a bunker.
to equip with or as if with bunkers: to bunker an army's defenses.
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Origin of bunker

First recorded in 1750–60; earlier bonkar (Scots ) “box, chest, serving also as a seat,” of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bunker in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bunker

bunker
/ (ˈbʌŋkə) /

noun
a large storage container or tank, as for coal
Also called (esp US and Canadian): sand trap an obstacle on a golf course, usually a sand-filled hollow bordered by a ridge
an underground shelter, often of reinforced concrete and with a bank and embrasures for guns above ground
verb
(tr) golf
  1. to drive (the ball) into a bunker
  2. (passive) to have one's ball trapped in a bunker
(tr) nautical
  1. to fuel (a ship)
  2. to transfer (cargo) from a ship to a storehouse

Word Origin for bunker

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