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REFERENCE

bunk

n. uncountable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈbəŋk// UK //bˈʌŋk// bunk Archaic Dialect Slang

n. a lie or something that is not true. You use this word when you want to say that a story or excuse is nonsense.

n. an assertion or statement that is false, absurd, or without foundation. Informal in register; common in North American English.


SIMPLE

His excuse for being late was pure bunk.

CONTEXTUAL

The politician dismissed the rumors about his health as bunk.

COMPLEX

Skeptics argued that the ancient manuscript was bunk, pointing out several anachronisms in its text.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Sense of sleeping berth possibly from Scottish English bunker (“seat, bench”), origin is uncertain but possibly Scandinavian. Compare Old Swedish bunke (“boards used to protect the cargo of a ship”). See also boarding, flooring and compare bunch.

Etymology 2

Shortened from bunkum, a variant of buncombe, from Buncombe County, North Carolina. See bunkum for more.

Etymology 3

19th century, of uncertain origin; perhaps from previous "to occupy a bunk" meaning, with connotations of a hurried departure, as if on a ship.

Idioms1 entry

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