bunk

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.

noun

1. One of a series of berths or beds placed in tiers.
   Jane sleeps in the top bunk, and her little sister Lauren takes the bottom bunk.
   The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks ; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […] 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 6, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
2. (nautical) A built-in bed on board ship, often erected in tiers one above the other.
3. (military) A cot.
4. (US) A wooden case or box, which serves for a seat in the daytime and for a bed at night.
5. (US, dialect) A piece of wood placed on a lumberman's sled to sustain the end of heavy timbers.

verb

1. To occupy a bunk.
   Due to bed shortages, Jeff and Paul had to bunk together.
2. To provide a bunk.

Etymology 2

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

noun

1. (slang) Bunkum; senseless talk, nonsense.
   What she said about me was total bunk. Don't believe a word.
   “You can’t pull any bunk like that on us!” roared Quelch. “We’ve had enough of this flapdoodlery! Take your money, Mrs. Clinton, and sign the deed.” 1927, Arthur Train, When Tutt Meets Tutt, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 47
2. (slang) A specimen of a recreational drug with insufficient active ingredient.
   I still can get off with a pound of bunk and pretend it's some Runtz 2020-07-18, Rio Da Yung OG, featured by T LB$ (lyrics and music), “Toledo 2 Flint”, in The World is Yours, 1:26–1:28

adj

1. (slang) Defective, broken, not functioning properly.

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.

verb

1. (Britain) To fail to attend school or work without permission; to play truant (usually as in 'to bunk off').
   The naughty boys decided to bunk school and visit the comic shop.
2. (dated) To expel from a school.
3. (slang) To depart; scram.
   "They're moving off," he said. "[…] [T]he funny little man with the beard like a goat is going a different way from everyone else — the gardeners will have to head him off. I don't see Mademoiselle, though. The rest of you had better bunk. […]" 1907, Edith Nesbit, The Enchanted Castle