Definition of "bunker"

(military) A hardened shelter, often partly buried or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks.

(nautical) A compartment for storing coal for the ship's boilers; or a tank for storing fuel oil for the ship's engines.  examples

(rail transport) The coal compartment on a tank engine.  quotations  examples

(sports)

1. (golf) A hazard on a golf course consisting of a sand-filled hollow.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • At length I came within sight of them, three in number, where they sat cosily niched, into what you might call a bunker, a little sand-pit, dry and snug, and surrounded by its banks, and a screen of whins in full bloom. […] And are ye in the wont of drawing up wi' all the gangrel bodies that ye meet on the high road, or find cowering in a sand-bunker upon the links?Used to refer to a sand-filled hollow in general.

     1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Letter X. Darsie Latimer to Alan Fairford.”; “Letter XI. The Same to the Same.”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., pages 204 and 223

2. (paintball) An obstacle used to block an opposing player's view and field of fire.  examples

(Britain, chiefly historical) A large bin or container for storing coal, often built outdoors in the yard of a house.

(Scotland)

1. A sort of box or chest, as in a window, the lid of which serves as a seat.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • A winnock-bunker in the eaſt, / There ſat auld Nick, in ſhape o' beaſt; […]

     1790 (date written; published 1791), Robert Burns, “Tam o’ Shanter. A Tale.”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, page 202

   • There was no seat accommodated him so well as the "bunker" at Woodend, and no face he loved so much to gaze on as Jeanie Deans's.

     1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, page 234

2. (slang) A kitchen worktop.

(nautical)

1. (transitive) To load (a vessel) with coal or fuel oil for the engine.  examples

2. (intransitive, of a vessel) To take a load of coal or fuel oil for its engine.  examples

3. (transitive, Nigeria) To steal bunker fuel by illicitly siphoning it off.  examples

(transitive, golf) To hit (a golf ball) into a bunker; (chiefly passive voice) to place (a golfer) in the position of having a golf ball in a bunker.

1. (idiomatic, UK, informal) To place (someone) in a position that is difficult to get out of; to hinder.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Proteus. Or we resign and tell the country that we cant carry on the King's Government under conditions which destroy our responsibility. / Balbus. Thatll do it. He couldnt face that. / Crassus. Yes: thatll bunker him.

     1928 December (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza, London: Constable and Company, published 1930, Act I, page 18

(transitive, paintball) To fire constantly at (an opponent hiding behind an obstacle), trapping them and preventing them from firing at other players; also, to eliminate (an opponent behind an obstacle) by rushing to the position and firing at extremely close range as the player becomes exposed.  examples

(intransitive) Often followed by down: to take shelter in a bunker or other place.  quotations  examples

(Britain, slang) One who bunks off; a truant from school.

(US, regional) The menhaden, any of several species of fish in the genera Brevoortia and Ethmidium.  examples