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Trunk   /trəŋk/   Listen
noun
Trunk  n.  
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."
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.
(Zool.) 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.
(Zool.)
(a)
The proboscis of an elephant.
(b)
The proboscis of an insect.
7.
A long tube through which pellets of clay, etc., are driven by the force of the breath. "He shot sugarplums them out of a trunk."
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."
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 (Zool.), the leatherback.



verb
Trunk  v. t.  
1.
To lop off; to curtail; to truncate; to maim. (Obs.) "Out of the trunked stock."
2.
(Mining) To extract (ores) from the slimes in which they are contained, by means of a trunk. See Trunk, n., 9.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Trunk" Quotes from Famous Books



... the poor elephant (who was so barbarously put to death at Exeter 'Change) with potatoes, which he took out of my hand. One of them, a round one, fell on the floor, just out of the reach of his proboscis. He leaned against his wooden bar, put out his trunk, and could just touch the potato, but could not pick it up. After several ineffectual efforts, he at last blew the potato against the opposite wall with sufficient force to make it rebound, and he then, without difficulty, secured it. Now it is quite clear, I think, that instinct ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 19, No. 543, Saturday, April 21, 1832. • Various

... study, as I have often done, I have turned my eye over my shoulder, expecting to see the apparition of Master John Llewellin—who subscribes his name with a very energetic nourish as Clerk of the Council—standing behind me in grave-colored doublet and trunk-hose, with a starched ruff, a wide-awake hat drawn over his brow, and a short black feather falling amongst the locks of his dark hair ...
— Atlantic Monthly Vol. 6, No. 33, July, 1860 • Various

... as the bear reached the spot. But bruin was not to be baulked so easily. He was a black bear and a good climber. Finding that he could not at his utmost stretch obtain a nibble at Jack's toes, he rushed at the trunk of the tree and began to ascend rapidly. Jack at once moved towards the end of the branch, intending to drop to the ground, recover his gun and run for it; but the movement broke the branch off suddenly, and he came down with such a crash, that the bear stopped, ...
— Fort Desolation - Red Indians and Fur Traders of Rupert's Land • R.M. Ballantyne

... keen; and suddenly she broke out in a cry of joy and triumph that went echoing down the forest aisles. There, on a patriarchal pine, though almost obliterated by time and weather, was the blaze in the bark that told her the trail ran at the base of that solid trunk. She halted Tuesday there—and faced a new difficulty: in her many circlings she had lost the general direction in which she had been riding. The trail was under her horse's hoofs; but which way should she go? There appeared to be no ascent the one way or ...
— The Heart of Thunder Mountain • Edfrid A. Bingham

... the room into the open fireplace. She stood with her back to the girls a moment, then, to Mary's unspeakable astonishment, forced herself to speak as calmly as if nothing had happened, asking Joyce some commonplace question about her packing. There was a book she wanted her to slip into her trunk to read at the seashore. She was afraid it would be forgotten if left till next day, so she went to her room ...
— The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor • Annie Fellows Johnston


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