trunk

American  

[truhngk] / trʌŋk /

noun

trunks plural

1. the main stem of a tree, as distinct from the branches and roots.

2. a large, sturdy box or chest for holding or transporting clothes, personal effects, or other articles.

3. a large compartment, usually in the rear of an automobile, in which luggage, a spare tire, and other articles may be kept.

4. the body of a person or an animal excluding the head and limbs; torso.

5. Ichthyology. the part of a fish between the head and the anus.

6. Architecture.

   1. the shaft of a column.

   2. the dado or die of a pedestal.

7. the main channel, artery, or line in a river, railroad, highway, canal, or other tributary system.

8. Telephony, Telegraphy.

   1. a telephone line or channel between two central offices or switching devices that is used in providing telephone connections between subscribers generally.

   2. a telegraph line or channel between two main or central offices.

9. Anatomy. the main body of an artery, nerve, or the like, as distinct from its branches.

10. trunks,

    1. brief shorts, loose-fitting or tight, worn by men chiefly for boxing, swimming, and track.

    2. Obsolete. trunk hose.

11. the long, flexible, cylindrical nasal appendage of the elephant.

12. Nautical.

    1. a large enclosed passage through the decks or bulkheads of a vessel, for cooling, ventilation, or the like.

    2. any of various watertight casings in a vessel, as the vertical one above the slot for a centerboard in the bottom of a boat.

13. a conduit; shaft; chute.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or noting a main channel or line, as of a railroad or river.

trunk British  

/ trʌŋk /

noun

1. the main stem of a tree, usually thick and upright, covered with bark and having branches at some distance from the ground

2. a large strong case or box used to contain clothes and other personal effects when travelling and for storage

3. anatomy the body excluding the head, neck, and limbs; torso

4. the elongated prehensile nasal part of an elephant; proboscis

5. Also called: boot.  an enclosed compartment of a car for holding luggage, etc, usually at the rear

6. anatomy the main stem of a nerve, blood vessel, etc

7. nautical a watertight boxlike cover within a vessel with its top above the waterline, such as one used to enclose a centreboard

8. an enclosed duct or passageway for ventilation, etc

9. (modifier) of or relating to a main road, railway, etc, in a network

   a trunk line

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subtrunk
  noun
• trunkful
  noun
• trunkless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trunks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trunk

1400–50; late Middle English trunke < Latin truncus stem, trunk, stump, noun use of truncus lopped

Explanation

The noun trunk refers to the main stem of a tree. If you want to make maple syrup, you need to tap the trunk of the maple tree and collect the tree's sap, which can then be boiled into a sticky syrup. The torso of the human body, from the neck to the groin — but not including the head, neck, arms, or legs — is sometimes referred to as the trunk. If you have hives on your trunk, you probably itch on your back, chest and abdomen. The word trunk comes from the Old French word tronc, which referred to the trunk of a tree or a headless body.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trunk trunks

Brown, from Clacton, Essex, was fatally thrown from his speedboat boat on the River Thames, when it hit a submerged tree trunk, in December 2015.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Chris Edwards has been placing barriers like this massive tree trunk in front of the entrances to his fields - in a bid to deter hare coursers.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

There are about 547 miles of trunk line underground across the city and 6,780 miles of distribution pipes, or main lines, in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

Their analysis showed that the fossils consisted of an anterior trunk vertebra, a mid trunk vertebra, and a sacro-caudal vertebra.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

I put the fingertips of my left hand on that old tree’s trunk and felt the smooth, worn, warm whiteness.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

He added that removing or dealing with tree trunks or roots in water is not the responsibility of the state government which he works for but Niwa which handles inland waterways.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

They also used instruments that measured CO2 levels in tree canopies every hour and sensors attached to tree trunks that tracked tiny changes in trunk size throughout the day.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

Fragments of bags, clothes, and a melted shoe lie half-buried in the charred earth at the site, alongside dead trees with burned trunks.

From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026

Kicking off the start of the Formula 1 season in 2026, Louis Vuitton is displaying trophy trunks at every Grand Prix ceremony this year.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

A lone gust of wind from the west blows through the tree trunks.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Related Words

• bag
• chest
• coffin
• crate
• locker
• luggage
• suitcase