dunk

views updated May 29 2018

dunk / ngk/ • v. 1. [tr.] dip (bread or other food) into a drink or soup before eating it: she dunked a piece of bread into her coffee. ∎  immerse or dip in water: the bikers dunked themselves in the ocean | [as n.] (dunking) the camera survived a dunking in a stream. ∎  baptize (someone) by immersion: he's always trying to get me to go and be dunked into the church.2. [intr.] Basketball score by shooting the ball down through the basket with the hands above the rim.• n. Basketball a shot downward into the basket with the hands above the rim.DERIVATIVES: dunk·er n.ORIGIN: early 20th cent.: from Pennsylvania Dutch dunke ‘dip,’ from German tunken ‘dip or plunge.’