Bunk

Pronunciation

• enPR: bÅ­ngk, IPA: /bʌŋk/
• Rhymes: -ʌŋk

Sense of sleeping berth possibly from Scottish English bunker ("seat, bench"), origin is uncertain but possibly Scandinavian.

Confer Old Swedish bunke ("boards used to protect the cargo of a ship").

See also boarding, flooring and confer bunch.

Full definition of bunk

Noun

1. One of a series of berths or bed placed in tiers.
• 1913, w, Lord Stranleigh Abroad Chapter 6, The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks ; half of them in a very dishevelled state, …
2. (nautical) A built-in bed on board ship, often erected in tiers one above the other.
3. (military) A cot.
4. (US) A wooden case or box, which serves for a seat in the daytime and for a bed at night.
5. (US, dialect) A piece of wood placed on a lumberman's sled to sustain the end of heavy timbers.

Derived terms

• bunk bed, bunkbed
• bunkmate

Verb

1. To occupy a bunk.
2. To provide a bunk.

Shortened from bunkum, a variant of buncombe.

Noun

1. (slang) Bunkum; senseless talk, nonsense.

Synonyms

Derived terms

• debunk

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

Verb

1. (British) To fail to attend school or work without permission; to play truant (usually as in 'to bunk off').
2. (obsolete) To expel from a school.