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spunk

 - 4 dictionary results

spunk

  [spuhngk] ,
Use spunk in a Sentence
–noun
1. pluck; spirit; mettle.
2. touchwood, tinder, or punk.
Origin:
1530–40; b. spark 1 and obs. funk spark, touchwood (c. D vonk, G Funke)

Related forms:
spunkless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spunk
spunk   (spŭngk)   
n.  

  1. Informal Spirit; pluck.

  2. Punk, touchwood, or other tinder.

  3. Vulgar Slang Ejaculated semen.


[Scottish Gaelic spong, tinder, from Latin spongia, sponge; see sponge.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
spunk [spəŋk]

  1. n.
    courage. : Show some spunk. Get in there and stand up for your rights.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

spunk 
1536, "a spark," Scottish, from Gaelic spong "tinder, pith, sponge," from L. spongia (see sponge). The sense of "courage, pluck, mettle" is first attested 1773. A similar sense evolution took place in cognate Ir. sponnc "sponge, tinder, spark, courage, spunk." Vulgar slang sense of "seminal fluid" is recorded from c.1888. Spunky "courageous, spirited" is recorded from 1786.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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