BUNCH

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bunch mean? 

• BUNCH (noun)
  The noun BUNCH has 3 senses:

1. a grouping of a number of similar things

2. an informal body of friends

3. any collection in its entirety

  Familiarity information: BUNCH used as a noun is uncommon.

• BUNCH (verb)
  The verb BUNCH has 2 senses:

1. form into a bunch

2. gather or cause to gather into a cluster

  Familiarity information: BUNCH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BUNCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A grouping of a number of similar things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bunch; clump; cluster; clustering

Context example:

a cluster of admirers

Hypernyms ("bunch" is a kind of...):

agglomeration (a jumbled collection or mass)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bunch"):

knot (a tight cluster of people or things)

swad (a bunch)

tuft; tussock (a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass)

Instance hyponyms:

Northern Cross (a cluster of 5 bright stars forming a cross in the constellation Cygnus)

Omega Centauri (a global cluster in the constellation Centaurus)

Pleiades (a star cluster in the constellation Taurus)

Derivation:

bunch (gather or cause to gather into a cluster)

bunch (form into a bunch)

bunchy (occurring close together in bunches or clusters)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An informal body of friends

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bunch; crew; crowd; gang

Context example:

he still hangs out with the same crowd

Hypernyms ("bunch" is a kind of...):

assemblage; gathering (a group of persons together in one place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any collection in its entirety

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bunch; caboodle; lot

Context example:

she bought the whole caboodle

Hypernyms ("bunch" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

• BUNCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bunch    ... he / she / it bunches   
Past simple: bunched   
Past participle: bunched   
-ing form: bunching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form into a bunch

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bunch; bunch together; bunch up

Context example:

The frightened children bunched together in the corner of the classroom

Hypernyms (to "bunch" is one way to...):

clump; cluster; constellate; flock (come together as in a cluster or flock)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

bunch (a grouping of a number of similar things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Gather or cause to gather into a cluster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bunch; bundle; clump; cluster

Context example:

She bunched her fingers into a fist

Hypernyms (to "bunch" is one way to...):

form (assume a form or shape)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bunch"):

agglomerate (form into one cluster)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

bunch (a grouping of a number of similar things)

 Context examples 

Knots and ridges and mounds of muscles writhed and bunched under the skin.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He had lost his hat somewhere, with the bunch of matches in the band, but the matches against his chest were safe and dry inside the tobacco pouch and oil paper.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Dr. Van Helsing had taken the key of the hall-door from the bunch, and locked the door in orthodox fashion, putting the key into his pocket when he had done.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I found a great many foxes, disparaging whole vineyards of inaccessible grapes; but I found very few foxes whom I would have trusted within reach of a bunch.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He held up a bunch of manuscript.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The leaves of garlic plants are neither inflated like onion leaves nor tubular like those of bunching onions.

(Allium sativum, NCI Thesaurus)

Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and for myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch of raisins, and a piece of cheese.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

From one window there thrust forth a long pole with a bunch of greenery tied to the end of it—a sign that liquor was to be sold within.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His great red hands were bunched into huge, gnarled fists, and he shook one of them menacingly as his drunken gaze swept round the tables.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)