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
The Arizona Republic, 30 Mar. 2024
If only a top bunk is available, people with physical disabilities may not be able to access it.
—Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
The home features a vaulted great room with wide-plank floors, exposed beams, and clerestory windows; big open kitchen; bunk/theater room; and lower level with ski gear area and kitchenette.
—The Week Staff, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024
Often, this ends up in a bunk product that leaves users with a bad perception of CBD in general.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 6 Jan. 2024
The bedrooms include a bunk room—perfect for families traveling with young children—and a bonus room that can be used as an office, private gym, or hobby studio.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 25 Mar. 2024
There was the time at a hostel on Mykonos when, apparently, Roy sat on a top bunk, his legs dangling while Mandy stood between them sucking him off, and some raucous Croatian girls burst into the dorm.
—Fiona McFarlane, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
The boy was lying face up in a CPR position on the floor of a bunk house, authorities said.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 17 Feb. 2024
Opening with just two Airstreams, there are now seven travel trailers as well as two houses and a bunk house.
—Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 3 Jan. 2024
Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Image Until then, Stella bunked with the other oasis residents, mainly a rambunctious group of beagles employed by government agencies for airport security.
—Claire Fahy, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
The group was picked up in golf carts and bunked in old military barracks.
—Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register, 5 Feb. 2024
The dogs have heated squares for sleeping and bunk two to a room to prevent loneliness; the cats have specially designed climbing nests that look like spiral staircases.
—Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 14 Feb. 2024
This is where hundreds of workers bunked while building Henry Flagler’s Key West extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, which connected the Keys to mainland Florida.
—Gwen Filosa, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2024
The time has seemingly passed when a candidate can win Carter-style by slogging from small town to small town, bunking with local families and spending years meeting voters a handful at a time.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2024
Crew quarters are cramped, with 10 men bunking in rooms built for half that number.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
Key swing state Pennsylvania’s delegation will bunk in rooms at the Palmer House.
—John Byrne, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
Noun
Guests are prohibited from doubling up in the bunks or sleeping on the floors.
—The Arizona Republic, 30 Mar. 2024
If only a top bunk is available, people with physical disabilities may not be able to access it.
—Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
The home features a vaulted great room with wide-plank floors, exposed beams, and clerestory windows; big open kitchen; bunk/theater room; and lower level with ski gear area and kitchenette.
—The Week Staff, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024
Often, this ends up in a bunk product that leaves users with a bad perception of CBD in general.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 6 Jan. 2024
The bedrooms include a bunk room—perfect for families traveling with young children—and a bonus room that can be used as an office, private gym, or hobby studio.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 25 Mar. 2024
There was the time at a hostel on Mykonos when, apparently, Roy sat on a top bunk, his legs dangling while Mandy stood between them sucking him off, and some raucous Croatian girls burst into the dorm.
—Fiona McFarlane, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
The boy was lying face up in a CPR position on the floor of a bunk house, authorities said.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 17 Feb. 2024
Opening with just two Airstreams, there are now seven travel trailers as well as two houses and a bunk house.
—Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 3 Jan. 2024
Verb
While Richard Gere, Debra Winger and the other stars stayed in Port Townsend on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, Gossett bunked with a company of Marines miles from the set.
—Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Image Until then, Stella bunked with the other oasis residents, mainly a rambunctious group of beagles employed by government agencies for airport security.
—Claire Fahy, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
The group was picked up in golf carts and bunked in old military barracks.
—Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register, 5 Feb. 2024
The dogs have heated squares for sleeping and bunk two to a room to prevent loneliness; the cats have specially designed climbing nests that look like spiral staircases.
—Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 14 Feb. 2024
This is where hundreds of workers bunked while building Henry Flagler’s Key West extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, which connected the Keys to mainland Florida.
—Gwen Filosa, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2024
The time has seemingly passed when a candidate can win Carter-style by slogging from small town to small town, bunking with local families and spending years meeting voters a handful at a time.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2024
Crew quarters are cramped, with 10 men bunking in rooms built for half that number.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
Key swing state Pennsylvania’s delegation will bunk in rooms at the Palmer House.
—John Byrne, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
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 19 Apr. 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.
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