dunk

1 of 2

verb

ˈdəŋk 

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

Synonyms of dunk

Verb

• dip
• duck

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

An employee was observed improperly washing their hands by dunking their hands in soapy dish washing water and then drying them off. —Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 17 Apr. 2026

Inspect your plants frequently and pick off caterpillars, dunking them in a bucket of soapy water. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2026

Noun

Robinson kept rising at the rim for lob dunk after lob dunk after Mouhamed Gueye exited early with a hip injury after missing a transition dunk. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026

Boston ended the quarter with a 33-18 lead after Tatum slithered through three Sixers defenders for a dunk, then shot an outlet pass to Jordan Walsh for a transition layup. —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 19 Apr. 2026

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

1932, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing dunk

• dunk on
• dunk shot
• slam dunk

Rhymes for dunk

• bunk
• chunk
• clunk
• drunk
• hunk
• junk
• punk
• shrunk
• slunk
• spunk
• sunk
• trunk

Kids Definition

dunk

verb

ˈdəŋk

1

: to dip (as a doughnut) into liquid (as coffee)

2

: to plunge oneself into water