bunker

American  

[buhng-ker] / ˈbʌŋ kər /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of bunker

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

Example Sentences

Every golfer knows the feeling: a solid swing, a hopeful flight, and then the soft thud as the ball disappears into a bunker.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

The hardest part of bunker escape is getting used to playing the sand first, not the ball.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

The price of the bunker fuel that powers ships nearly doubled after the war broke out, peaking at $1,053 per metric tonne on March 20.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

But others have survived, had their own version of a bunker.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

The air was so still that, as they climbed out of the bunker, they could hear the caw-caw-caw of some birds far off.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• dugout
• fortification
• shelter