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
Verb
We'll bunk here for the night.
She was able to bunk with friends.
Recent Examples on the Web
Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
Upstairs, there are two bedrooms with private balconies, a charming bunk room, and an additional smaller bedroom.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 1 Nov. 2023
Records show the owner of the farm told Brown County sheriff’s deputies that Lepe lived in a bunk room above the milk house.
—Maryam Jameel, ProPublica, 25 Oct. 2023
Before departing from Shidao port, Liu, a three-pack-a-day smoker, had bought 165 cartons of cigarettes from the captain on credit, stacking them next to his bunk, floor to ceiling.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
In the days of sail, rats truly infested ships, harrowing seafarers’ minds with their scraping and scurrying and sometimes getting hungry enough to lick or bite the hands and feet of crew in their bunks.
—WIRED, 7 Oct. 2023
Plus, travelers can save a few bucks on flights and hotels, which might mean getting to bunk somewhere swish like Pendry San Diego.
—Lindsay Cohn, Travel + Leisure, 23 Sep. 2023
To avoid the appearance of overcrowding, thousands of inmates were shipped off to Auschwitz; others were forced to stay hidden in their bunks.
—Douglas Starr, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Aug. 2023
Other prisoners summoned prison officials, who dismissed their concerns and directed Rogers to lie down in his bunk.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 23 Aug. 2023
John Byrne, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
In Dallas and other regions, the department signed memoranda of understanding with entities such as churches, other religious groups and private child placing agencies to use their facilities as places to bunk such children.
—Robert T. Garrett, Dallas News, 7 Sep. 2023
Nowitzki arrived in Dallas with a Nick Carter-of-Backstreet Boys haircut and bunked for a few days in then-coach Don Nelson’s home.
—Brad Townsend, Dallas News, 13 Aug. 2023
Wagner group leader Prigozhin may be back in Russia
Yevgeny Prigozhin may be back amid gold bars and stacks of cash at his opulent mansion in St. Petersburg, Russia, instead of bunking at a camp with mercenaries from his Wagner Group in Belarus.
—John Bacon, USA TODAY, 7 July 2023
Congregate shelters can bunk dozens or even hundreds of people in just a few large rooms.
—Juliette Rihl, The Arizona Republic, 8 June 2023
Some players even said that their uniforms were hand-me-downs from the men’s teams, and while male players would get to stay at hotels, the women, who were only paid $15 per diem during overseas travel, all bunked in one room at a bed-and-breakfast.
—Time, 23 June 2023
Sam and Jay have the ghosts bunk together to free up rooms for bed-and-breakfast guests, but find out Thorfinn has night terrors, prompting Sam to find a therapist for help.
—Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022
Visitors can bunk in cozy cottages, safari-style tents, converted Conestoga wagons, Airstreams, Hideaway Huts (A-frames), and more at Sandy Pines Campground.
—Lindsay Lambert Day, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2023
See More
Noun
The ship caught fire in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2019, while it was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, trapping 33 passengers and one crew member in the bunk room.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
Upstairs, there are two bedrooms with private balconies, a charming bunk room, and an additional smaller bedroom.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 1 Nov. 2023
Records show the owner of the farm told Brown County sheriff’s deputies that Lepe lived in a bunk room above the milk house.
—Maryam Jameel, ProPublica, 25 Oct. 2023
Before departing from Shidao port, Liu, a three-pack-a-day smoker, had bought 165 cartons of cigarettes from the captain on credit, stacking them next to his bunk, floor to ceiling.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
In the days of sail, rats truly infested ships, harrowing seafarers’ minds with their scraping and scurrying and sometimes getting hungry enough to lick or bite the hands and feet of crew in their bunks.
—WIRED, 7 Oct. 2023
Plus, travelers can save a few bucks on flights and hotels, which might mean getting to bunk somewhere swish like Pendry San Diego.
—Lindsay Cohn, Travel + Leisure, 23 Sep. 2023
To avoid the appearance of overcrowding, thousands of inmates were shipped off to Auschwitz; others were forced to stay hidden in their bunks.
—Douglas Starr, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Aug. 2023
Other prisoners summoned prison officials, who dismissed their concerns and directed Rogers to lie down in his bunk.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 23 Aug. 2023
Verb
Key swing state Pennsylvania’s delegation will bunk in rooms at the Palmer House.
—John Byrne, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
In Dallas and other regions, the department signed memoranda of understanding with entities such as churches, other religious groups and private child placing agencies to use their facilities as places to bunk such children.
—Robert T. Garrett, Dallas News, 7 Sep. 2023
Nowitzki arrived in Dallas with a Nick Carter-of-Backstreet Boys haircut and bunked for a few days in then-coach Don Nelson’s home.
—Brad Townsend, Dallas News, 13 Aug. 2023
Wagner group leader Prigozhin may be back in Russia
Yevgeny Prigozhin may be back amid gold bars and stacks of cash at his opulent mansion in St. Petersburg, Russia, instead of bunking at a camp with mercenaries from his Wagner Group in Belarus.
—John Bacon, USA TODAY, 7 July 2023
Congregate shelters can bunk dozens or even hundreds of people in just a few large rooms.
—Juliette Rihl, The Arizona Republic, 8 June 2023
Some players even said that their uniforms were hand-me-downs from the men’s teams, and while male players would get to stay at hotels, the women, who were only paid $15 per diem during overseas travel, all bunked in one room at a bed-and-breakfast.
—Time, 23 June 2023
Sam and Jay have the ghosts bunk together to free up rooms for bed-and-breakfast guests, but find out Thorfinn has night terrors, prompting Sam to find a therapist for help.
—Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022
Visitors can bunk in cozy cottages, safari-style tents, converted Conestoga wagons, Airstreams, Hideaway Huts (A-frames), and more at Sandy Pines Campground.
—Lindsay Lambert Day, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2023
See More
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.
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
probably short for bunker
Noun (3)
origin unknown
First Known Use
Noun (1)
1758, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1840, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense
Noun (2)
1900, in the meaning defined above
Noun (3)
circa 1870, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing bunk
Dictionary Entries Near bunk
Cite this Entry
“Bunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bunk. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids 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.
More from Merriam-Webster on bunk
Nglish: Translation of bunk for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of bunk for Arabic Speakers
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