TRUNK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does trunk mean? 

• TRUNK (noun)
  The noun TRUNK has 5 senses:

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

4. compartment in an automobile that carries luggage or shopping or tools

5. a long flexible snout as of an elephant

  Familiarity information: TRUNK used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRUNK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

bole; tree trunk; trunk

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

stalk; stem (a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ)

Meronyms (parts of "trunk"):

bark (tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants)

Holonyms ("trunk" is a part of...):

tree (a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Luggage consisting of a large strong case used when traveling or for storage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

baggage; luggage (cases used to carry belongings when traveling)

Meronyms (parts of "trunk"):

trunk lid (hinged lid for a trunk)

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

footlocker; locker (a trunk for storing personal possessions; usually kept at the foot of a bed (as in a barracks))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The body excluding the head and neck and limbs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

body; torso; trunk

Context example:

they moved their arms and legs and bodies

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

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

Meronyms (parts of "trunk"):

chest; pectus; thorax (the part of the human torso between the neck and the diaphragm or the corresponding part in other vertebrates)

buttock; cheek (either of the two large fleshy masses of muscular tissue that form the human rump)

arse; ass; backside; behind; bottom; bum; buns; butt; buttocks; can; derriere; fanny; fundament; hind end; hindquarters; keister; nates; posterior; prat; rear; rear end; rump; seat; stern; tail; tail end; tooshie; tush (the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on)

back; dorsum (the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine)

abdomen; belly; stomach; venter (the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis)

haunch (the hip and buttock and upper thigh in human beings)

loins (the region of the hips and groin and lower abdomen)

hip (either side of the body below the waist and above the thigh)

love handle; spare tire (excess fat around the waistline)

belly; paunch (a protruding abdomen)

waist; waistline (the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips)

middle; midriff; midsection (the middle area of the human torso (usually in front))

side (either the left or right half of a body)

serratus; serratus muscles (any of several muscles of the trunk)

articulatio humeri; shoulder; shoulder joint (a ball-and-socket joint between the head of the humerus and a cavity of the scapula)

shoulder (the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm)

diaphragm; midriff ((anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration)

Holonyms ("trunk" is a part of...):

body; organic structure (the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Compartment in an automobile that carries luggage or shopping or tools

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

automobile trunk; boot; luggage compartment; trunk

Context example:

he put his golf bag in the trunk

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

compartment (a partitioned section, chamber, or separate room within a larger enclosed area)

Holonyms ("trunk" is a part of...):

auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A long flexible snout as of an elephant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

proboscis; trunk

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

neb; snout (a long projecting or anterior elongation of an animal's head; especially the nose)

Holonyms ("trunk" is a part of...):

elephant (five-toed pachyderm)

mammoth (any of numerous extinct elephants widely distributed in the Pleistocene; extremely large with hairy coats and long upcurved tusks)

 Context examples 

A muscle located away from the trunk of the body.

(Distal Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)

Sir Nigel sprang lightly upon the trunk, and stood with blinking eye and firm lips looking down at the ring of upturned warlike faces.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A disorder characterized by swelling due to excessive fluid accumulation in the trunk area.

(Edema Trunk, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Our united strength could not carry a trunk which would serve our purpose.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A muscle located on the posterior aspect of the trunk.

(Dorsal Muscle of the Back, NCI Thesaurus)

It makes your arms and legs short in comparison to your head and trunk.

(Dwarfism, NIH)

These tumors are usually found in the dermis (the inner layer of the two main layers of tissue that make up the skin) of the limbs or trunk of the body.

(Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, NCI Dictionary)

Swelling due to an excessive accumulation of fluid in trunk area.

(Edema Trunk, NCI Thesaurus)

The trunk of the body moved slightly.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I answered "Yes," and was then lifted out; my trunk was handed down, and the coach instantly drove away.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)