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7 dictionary results for: Trunk
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
trunk       [truhngk] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.the main stem of a tree, as distinct from the branches and roots.
2.a large, sturdy box or chest for holding or transporting clothes, personal effects, or other articles.
3.a large compartment, usually in the rear of an automobile, in which luggage, a spare tire, and other articles may be kept.
4.the body of a person or an animal excluding the head and limbs; torso.
5.Ichthyology. the part of a fish between the head and the anus.
6.Architecture.
a.the shaft of a column.
b.the dado or die of a pedestal.
7.the main channel, artery, or line in a river, railroad, highway, canal, or other tributary system.
8.Telephony, Telegraphy.
a.a telephone line or channel between two central offices or switching devices that is used in providing telephone connections between subscribers generally.
b.a telegraph line or channel between two main or central offices.
9.Anatomy. the main body of an artery, nerve, or the like, as distinct from its branches.
10.trunks,
a.brief shorts, loose-fitting or tight, worn by men chiefly for boxing, swimming, and track.
b.Obsolete. trunk hose.
11.the long, flexible, cylindrical nasal appendage of the elephant.
12.Nautical.
a.a large enclosed passage through the decks or bulkheads of a vessel, for cooling, ventilation, or the like.
b.any of various watertight casings in a vessel, as the vertical one above the slot for a centerboard in the bottom of a boat.
13.a conduit; shaft; chute.
–adjective
14.of, pertaining to, or noting a main channel or line, as of a railroad or river.
[Origin: 1400–50; late ME trunke < L truncus stem, trunk, stump, n. use of truncus lopped]

—Related forms
trunkless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
trunk       (trŭngk)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
    1. The main woody axis of a tree.
    2. Architecture The shaft of a column.
    3. The body of a human or animal excluding the head and limbs.
    4. The thorax of an insect.
    5. A main body, apart from tributaries or appendages.
    6. The main stem of a blood vessel or nerve apart from the branches.
    7. A watertight shaft connecting two or more decks.
    8. The housing for the centerboard of a vessel.
    9. A covering over the hatches of a ship.
    10. An expansion chamber on a tanker.
    11. A cabin on a small boat.
    12. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
    13. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.
    1. The body of a human or animal excluding the head and limbs.
    2. The thorax of an insect.
    3. A main body, apart from tributaries or appendages.
    4. The main stem of a blood vessel or nerve apart from the branches.
    5. A watertight shaft connecting two or more decks.
    6. The housing for the centerboard of a vessel.
    7. A covering over the hatches of a ship.
    8. An expansion chamber on a tanker.
    9. A cabin on a small boat.
    10. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
    11. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.
  3. A proboscis, especially the long prehensile proboscis of an elephant.
    1. A main body, apart from tributaries or appendages.
    2. The main stem of a blood vessel or nerve apart from the branches.
    3. A watertight shaft connecting two or more decks.
    4. The housing for the centerboard of a vessel.
    5. A covering over the hatches of a ship.
    6. An expansion chamber on a tanker.
    7. A cabin on a small boat.
    8. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
    9. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.
  5. A trunk line.
  6. A chute or conduit.
  7. Nautical
    1. A watertight shaft connecting two or more decks.
    2. The housing for the centerboard of a vessel.
    3. A covering over the hatches of a ship.
    4. An expansion chamber on a tanker.
    5. A cabin on a small boat.
    6. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
    7. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.
  8. Nautical Any of certain structures projecting above part of a main deck, as:
    1. A covering over the hatches of a ship.
    2. An expansion chamber on a tanker.
    3. A cabin on a small boat.
    4. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
    5. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.
    1. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
    2. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.
  10. trunks Shorts worn for swimming or other athletics.


[Middle English trunke, from Old French tronc, from Latin truncus; see terə-2 in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
trunk 
1462, "box, case," from O.Fr. tronc "alms box in a church" (12c.), also "trunk of a tree, trunk of the human body," from L. truncus, originally "mutilated, cut off." The meaning "box, case" is likely to be from the notion of the body as the "case" of the organs. Eng. acquired the other two senses of the O.Fr. word later; sense of "main stem of a tree" dates from 1490; that of "torso of a human body" from 1494. The sense of "luggage compartment of a motor vehicle" is from 1930. The use in reference to an elephant's snout is from 1565, probably from confusion with trump (short for trumpet). Railroad trunk line is attested from 1843; telephone version is from 1889.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
trunk

noun
1. the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber 
2. luggage consisting of a large strong case used when traveling or for storage 
3. the body excluding the head and neck and limbs; "they moved their arms and legs and bodies" [syn: torso] 
4. compartment in an automobile that carries luggage or shopping or tools; "he put his golf bag in the trunk" [syn: luggage compartment] 
5. a long flexible snout as of an elephant [syn: proboscis] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

trunk (trŭngk)
n.

  1. The body excluding the head and limbs.
  2. The main stem of a blood vessel or nerve apart from the branches.
  3. A large collecting lymphatic vessel.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Trunk

Trunk\, n. [F. tronc, L. truncus, fr. truncus maimed, mutilated; perhaps akin to torquere to twist wrench, and E. torture. Trunk in the sense of proboscis is fr. F. trompe (the same word as trompe a trumpet), but has been confused in English with trunk the stem of a tree (see Trump a trumpet). Cf. Truncate.]

1. The stem, or body, of a tree, apart from its limbs and roots; the main stem, without the branches; stock; stalk.

About the mossy trunk I wound me soon, For, high from ground, the branches would require Thy utmost reach. --Milton.

2. The body of an animal, apart from the head and limbs.

3. The main body of anything; as, the trunk of a vein or of an artery, as distinct from the branches.

4. (Arch) That part of a pilaster which is between the base and the capital, corresponding to the shaft of a column.

5. (Zo["o]l.) That segment of the body of an insect which is between the head and abdomen, and bears the wings and legs; the thorax; the truncus.

6. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The proboscis of an elephant. (b) The proboscis of an insect.

7. A long tube through which pellets of clay, p?as, etc., are driven by the force of the breath.

He shot sugarplums them out of a trunk. --Howell.

8. A box or chest usually covered with leather, metal, or cloth, or sometimes made of leather, hide, or metal, for containing clothes or other goods; especially, one used to convey the effects of a traveler.

Locked up in chests and trunks. --Shak.

9. (Mining) A flume or sluice in which ores are separated from the slimes in which they are contained.

10. (Steam Engine) A large pipe forming the piston rod of a steam engine, of sufficient diameter to allow one end of the connecting rod to be attached to the crank, and the other end to pass within the pipe directly to the piston, thus making the engine more compact.

11. A long, large box, pipe, or conductor, made of plank or metal plates, for various uses, as for conveying air to a mine or to a furnace, water to a mill, grain to an elevator, etc.

Trunk engine, a marine engine, the piston rod of which is a trunk. See Trunk, 10.

Trunk hose, large breeches formerly worn, reaching to the knees.

Trunk line, the main line of a railway, canal, or route of conveyance.

Trunk turtle (Zo["o]l.), the leatherback.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Trunk

Trunk\, v. t. [Cf. F. tronquer. See Truncate.]

1. To lop off; to curtail; to truncate; to maim. [Obs.] "Out of the trunked stock." --Spenser.

2. (Mining) To extract (ores) from the slimes in which they are contained, by means of a trunk. See Trunk, n., 9. --Weale.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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