1
a
: bunk bed
b
: a built-in bed (as on a ship) that is often one of a tier of berths
c
: a sleeping place
2
: a feeding trough for farm animals and especially cattle
bunked; bunking; bunks
: to occupy a bunk or bed : stay the night
bunked with a friend for the night
: to provide with a bunk or bed
British
: a hurried departure or escape
—usually used in the phrase do a bunk
Synonyms
Noun (1)
Verb
- accommodate
- bestow
- billet
- bivouac
- board
- camp
- chamber
- domicile
- encamp
- harbor
- house
- lodge
- put up
- quarter
- roof
- room
- shelter
- take in
Noun (2)
- applesauce [slang]
- balderdash
- baloney
- boloney
- beans
- bilge
- blah
- blah-blah
- blarney
- blather
- blatherskite
- blither
- bosh
- bull [slang]
- bunkum
- buncombe
- claptrap
- codswallop [British]
- crapola [slang]
- crock
- drivel
- drool
- fiddle
- fiddle-faddle
- fiddlesticks
- flannel [British]
- flapdoodle
- folderol
- falderal
- folly
- foolishness
- fudge
- garbage
- guff
- hogwash
- hokeypokey
- hokum
- hoodoo
- hooey
- horsefeathers [slang]
- humbug
- humbuggery
- jazz
- malarkey
- malarky
- moonshine
- muck
- nerts [slang]
- nonsense
- nuts
- piffle
- poppycock
- punk
- rot
- rubbish
- senselessness
- silliness
- slush
- stupidity
- taradiddle
- tarradiddle
- tommyrot
- tosh
- trash
- trumpery
- twaddle
Noun (3)
Examples of bunk in a Sentence
Noun (1)
crawled into their bunks and went to sleep immediately
Verb
We'll bunk here for the night.
She was able to bunk with friends.
Noun (2)
the idea that the Great Wall of China is visible from the moon is pure bunk
Noun (3)
he waited until everyone was looking the other way, then did a bunk from the room
Recent Examples on the Web
Nurith Aizenman, NPR, 12 May 2024
Officers lifted him back onto his bunk, leaving him unconscious and naked except for a covering draped over his groin.
—Glenn Thrush Carlos Javier Ortiz, New York Times, 5 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for bunk 
Noun
The boys are sitting on their bunks – back to discussing their favorite topic: food.
—Nurith Aizenman, NPR, 12 May 2024
Officers lifted him back onto his bunk, leaving him unconscious and naked except for a covering draped over his groin.
—Glenn Thrush Carlos Javier Ortiz, New York Times, 5 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for bunk
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bunk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bunk
Cite this Entry
“Bunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bunk. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bunk
2 of 3 verb1
: to sleep in a bunk or bed
2
: to provide with a bunk or bed
bunk
3 of 3 nounEtymology
Noun
probably a shortened form of bunker
Noun
short for bunkum, from Buncombe County, North Carolina
Word Origin
The word bunk is a shortened form of bunkum, which came from the name Buncombe County, North Carolina. Around 1820, the congressman for the district in which this county was located decided to give a very long, boring speech to the Congress. This speech had nothing at all to do with what was under discussion. Still he stubbornly made it, just to please the voters of Buncombe County. The word buncombe and its other spelling bunkum quickly caught on as a name for empty political nonsense. It didn't take long before its use broadened to include any kind of empty or insincere talk or action. In time it was shortened to the more emphatic bunk.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share