dunk

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /dʌŋk/ UK /dʌŋk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to dip into liquid; to thrust a basketball downward through the hoop

She liked to dunk her biscuit in her morning tea.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to dip into liquid; to... dip immerse submergedouseplunge souse

Word family

Derived forms dunkerdunking

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

slam dunk
a basketball shot in which a player forcefully pushes the ball down through the hoop

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Dunk entered English in the early 20th century from Pennsylvanian German dunke, meaning “dip.” This dialect form corresponds to standard German tunken.

Etymology

From Pennsylvania German 'dunke' ('to dip'), from German 'tunken' ('to dip, soak'), from Old High German 'dunkon', from a Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to dip'.

tunken German dunkōn Old High German

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# dunk

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dʌŋk/
**IPA (UK):** /dʌŋk/

## Meanings
1. to dip into liquid; to thrust a basketball downward through the hoop

## Examples
- She liked to dunk her biscuit in her morning tea.

## Synonyms
- dip
- immerse
- submerge
- douse
- plunge
- souse

## Derived Forms
- dunker
- dunking

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tunken
- Root: dunkōn

## Etymology
From Pennsylvania German 'dunke' ('to dip'), from German 'tunken' ('to dip, soak'), from Old High German 'dunkon', from a Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to dip'.

## AI Etymology
Dunk comes from Pennsylvania German 'dunke' ('to dip'), from German 'tunken' ('to dip, soak'), from Old High German 'dunkon', from a Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to dip'. The etymological trail includes German tunken and Old High German dunkōn. As a verb, dunk means to dip into liquid; to thrust a basketball downward through the hoop. The same family is visible in derived forms such as dunker and dunking.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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