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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bunk.

One of a series of berths or beds placed in tiers.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/bʌŋk/
  1. One of a series of berths or beds placed in tiers.

    Jane sleeps in the top bunk, and her little sister Lauren takes the bottom bunk.
  2. A built-in bed on board ship, often erected in tiers one above the other.

  3. A cot.

  4. A bed in a prison, worksite or similar location.

    informal
  5. A wooden case or box, which serves for a seat in the daytime and for a bed at night.

    US
  6. A piece of wood placed on a lumberman's sled to sustain the end of heavy timbers.

    US · dialectal
  7. A dormitory or bunkroom where soldiers sleep.

    Singapore · broadly
    Don’t leave your bunk unlocked.
Where this word comes from

Sense of sleeping berth possibly from Scottish Scottish English bunker (“seat, bench”), the origin of which is uncertain but possibly Scandinavian (North Germanic); compare Old Swedish bunke (“boards used to protect the cargo of a ship”). Possibly related to bunch.

verb/bʌŋk/
  1. To occupy a bunk.

    Due to bed shortages, Jeff and Paul had to bunk together.
  2. To provide a bunk.

Where this word comes from

Sense of sleeping berth possibly from Scottish Scottish English bunker (“seat, bench”), the origin of which is uncertain but possibly Scandinavian (North Germanic); compare Old Swedish bunke (“boards used to protect the cargo of a ship”). Possibly related to bunch.

noun/bʌŋk/
  1. Bunkum; senseless talk, nonsense.

    dated · slang · uncountable
    What she said about me was total bunk. Don't believe a word.
  2. In early use often in the form the bunk.

    obsolete · uncountable
  3. A specimen of a recreational drug with insufficient active ingredient.

    slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Shortened from bunkum, a variant of buncombe, from Buncombe County, North Carolina. See bunkum for more.

adj/bʌŋk/
  1. Defective, broken, not functioning properly.

    not-comparable · slang
Where this word comes from

Shortened from bunkum, a variant of buncombe, from Buncombe County, North Carolina. See bunkum for more.

verb/bʌŋk/
  1. To fail to attend school or work without permission; to play truant (usually 'to bunk off').

    India · UK · slang
    The naughty boys decided to bunk school and visit the comic shop.
  2. To expel from a school.

    UK · dated · slang
  3. To depart; scram.

    slang
Where this word comes from

19th century, of uncertain origin; perhaps from previous "to occupy a bunk" meaning, with connotations of a hurried departure, as if on a ship.

noun/bʌŋk/
  1. A hasty departure.

    slang
Where this word comes from

19th century, of uncertain origin; perhaps from previous "to occupy a bunk" meaning, with connotations of a hurried departure, as if on a ship.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.