dunk

1 of 2

verb

dunked; dunking; dunks

transitive verb

1
: to dip (something, such as a piece of bread) into a beverage while eating
2
: to dip or submerge temporarily in liquid
3
: to throw (a basketball) into the basket from above the rim see also dunk on

intransitive verb

1
: to submerge oneself in water
2
: to make a dunk shot in basketball

dunk

2 of 2

noun

: the act or action of dunking
especially : dunk shot

Examples of dunk in a Sentence

Verb I like to dunk my doughnut in my coffee. She dunked him while they were swimming. He dunked the ladle into the soup. He could dunk when he was 16. Noun The pass led to a dunk.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Stolen Nike products inside a warehouse in Hawthorne, Calif.LAPD Officials shared photos of the warehouse revealing shelves seemingly endlessly stocked with boxes of shoes, including highly coveted Nike sneakers and dunk shoes. Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 30 Jan. 2024 The durable toys held up through chewing, clawing, and being dunked in water. Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 16 Feb. 2024 What's better than fresh crab legs dunked in butter? Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Feb. 2024 The Sixers responded with a pair of key putbacks, with Kelly Oubre Jr. following his own shot from the right corner and dunking in traffic before Council added another follow of his effort in the paint to stretch it to 104-98. Ian Nicholas Quillen, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2024 First cut the bok choy lengthwise into quarters, then dunk the pieces in a bowl of water and swish around. Christopher Kimball, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2024 The average of the five judges’ scores went down as the individual dunk score. Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 18 Feb. 2024 Colorado's Luke O’Brien dunked to tie the game at 73-all with 3 seconds left in regulation. Beth Harris, USA TODAY, 18 Feb. 2024 Quickly dunk half of the ladyfingers in coffee mixture, submerging both sides completely. Staff Author, Peoplemag, 12 Feb. 2024
Noun
The Kings extended the lead to 17 on a three-point play by Barnes and went up by 20 on a breakaway dunk by Fox. Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 8 Mar. 2024 Chino Hills fell behind by 10 points, then won 70-50 with all kinds of vintage plays, dunks and fast breaks. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 He’s also had two of KU’s most spectacular dunks of the season — one on a breakaway in a victory at Oklahoma State and the other off a lob from Harris in a win at home against Texas. Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024 Jackson finished with his lowest completion rate of the season while Allen had to dink rather than dunk, finishing with his fewest yards gained per pass attempt of the year. USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 Timberlake rates Saturday’s dunk a bit ahead of his slam at OSU on the degree of difficulty scale. Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 25 Feb. 2024 With the Heat turning to its zone defense in the fourth quarter after using its man scheme for most of the first three quarters, the Pelicans did not score for more than six minutes of game clock before finally ending the drought on a dunk from Larry Nance Jr. with 2:22 remaining. Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2024 Utah State led 31-26 at halftime and pushed ahead 58-49 on a dunk by Ian Martinez with 7:52 remaining. Carson Hilton, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2024 In the process, McClung became only the seventh player in NBA history to win more than one dunk contest and just the fifth player to win the competition in back-to-back seasons. Mat Issa, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dunk.' 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

Verb

Pennsylvania German dunke, from Middle High German dunken, from Old High German dunkōn — more at tinge

First Known Use

Verb

1926, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

circa 1944, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dunk was in 1926

Dictionary Entries Near dunk

Cite this Entry

“Dunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dunk. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dunk

verb
ˈdəŋk
1
: to dip (as a doughnut) into liquid (as coffee)
2
: to plunge oneself into water

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