Definition of "punk"

punk¹

/pʌŋk/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural punks
1. (countable) A person used for sex, particularly:
  1. (now historical and rare) Synonym of prostitute: a person paid for sex.
    Quotations
    My lord, she may be a punk; for many of them are neither maid, widow, nor wife.
    c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]
    […] And made them fight, like mad or drunk, / For Dame Religion, as for punk...
    1662, [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge: University Press, 1905
    Flip [Lady Flippant]. I love, of my life men ſhould deal freely vvith me; there are ſo fevv men vvill deal freely with one— / Sir Sim[on Addlepot]. Are you not a Fireſhip? a Punk, Madam? / Flip. VVell, Sir, I love Raillery. / Sir Sim. Faith and troth I do not railly, I deal freely.
    1671 March (first performance), [William] Wycherley, Love in a Wood, or, St James’s Park. A Comedy, […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1672, Act II, page 22
    However, terrible as it may seem to the tall maiden sisters of J.P.'s in Queen Anne houses with walled vegetable gardens, this courtesan, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie, street-walker, this trollop, this trull, this baggage, this hussy, this drab, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, demirep, demimondaine, this wanton, this fornicatress, this doxy, this concubine, this frail sister, this poor Queenie—did actually solicit me, did actually say 'coming home to-night, dearie' and my soul was not blasted enough to call a policeman.
    1936, Anthony Bertram, Like the Phoenix
  2. (LGBT, obsolete) Synonym of catamite: a boy or younger man used by an older as a (usually passive) homosexual partner.
    Quotations
    The Beaus...At night make a Punk of him that's first drunk.
    1698, Womens Complaint to Venus
  3. (chiefly US, LGBT) Synonym of bottom: any passive or effeminate homosexual male.
  4. (US, LGBT, slang) A boy who accompanies a hobo, especially as used for sex.
    Quotations
    They'd pick up youngsters as, well—as their playthings. These kids were called punks.
    1973, Barry Broadfoot, Ten Lost Years, 1929-1939: Memories of Canadians who survived the Depression, page 137
  5. (US, LGBT, derogatory, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Synonym of faggot: any male homosexual.
  6. (US, LGBT, prison slang) Synonym of bitch: a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship, especially in prison.
    Quotations
    A punk, if you want it in plain English, is a boy with smooth skin who takes the place of a woman in a jailbird's love life.
    1946, Mezz Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues, New York: Random House, page 15
    If he is small and weak, he may decide to become a ‘punk’ and allow himself to be raped by the inmate most likely to protect him.
    2001, Joseph T. Hallinan, Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation, page 106
2. (countable, US slang) A worthless person, particularly:
  Quotations
  This fellow was just a punk... a nobody.
  1933, Ernest Hemingway, Winner Take Nothing, page 94
  1. (humorous, rare) Synonym of fellow: any person, especially a male comrade.
  2. (derogatory) A petty criminal, especially a juvenile delinquent.
    Quotations
    He said the prisoner called them ‘punk’... He admitted that he shouted ‘punk’ to them.
    1908 October 18, New York Times, page 9
    There was nothing so special about the gang, punks are punks.
    1963, Thomas Pynchon, V., page 145
    I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
    1971, Harry Julian Fink et al., Dirty Harry, spoken by Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood)
  3. (derogatory) Synonym of sissy: a weak, timid person.
    Quotations
    Do you think a little thing like a scratch would bother me? I'm no punk.
    1950, Hal Ellson, Tomboy, page 12
    Taking him home she hemmed him up soon as they stepped in the door. Now Tony was a bad dude in the streets but when it came to his mama, he was a punk. A few cuss words on her part had him spilling everything.
    2006, Kali James, Can U Get Away?, page 17
  4. Synonym of amateur.
  5. (circus slang) A young, untrained animal or worker.
3. (uncountable, music) Short for punk rock, a genre known for short, loud, energetic songs with electric guitars and strong drums.
  Quotations
  Who else... would have the nerve to actually begin a song with the line ‘Whatchew gonna do, mama, now that the roast beef's gone...?’ Man, that is true punk; that is so fucked up it's got class up the ass.
  1972 November, L. Bangs, Creem, page 68
4. (countable) Short for punk rocker, a musician known for playing punk rock or a fan of the genre.
  Quotations
  But I still felt a fraud. I was like all those people who suddenly shaved their heads and said they'd always been punks, they'd been punks before punk was even thought of […]
  1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, page 22
5. (uncountable) The larger nonconformist social movement associated with punk rock and its fans.
adjective
comparative punker, superlative punkest
1. (US, colloquial) Worthless, contemptible, particularly
  1. Bad, substandard.
    Quotations
    Babbitt boomed on: "Pretty punk service the Company giving us on these car-lines. Nonsense to only run the Portland Road cars once every seven minutes. Fellow gets mighty cold on a winter morning, waiting on a street corner with the wind nipping at his ankles."
    1922, Sinclair Lewis, “3”, in Babbitt, page 30
  2. Thuggish, criminal.
  3. (chiefly African-American Vernacular) Cowardly.
    Quotations
    ... Donald Trump is also a coward. For all of his tough talk and bluster, the president of the United States is a punk ass bitch.
    2018, Damon Jones, “Just Remember That Your Punk-Ass President Would Never, Ever, Ever Call LeBron James Dumb to His Face”, in The Root‎
  4. Poorly, sickly.
    Quotations
    With the subtleties of dressing ran other complex worries. "I feel kind of punk this morning," he said. "I think I had too much dinner last evening. You oughtn't to serve those heavy banana fritters."
    1922, Sinclair Lewis, “1”, in Babbitt, page 10
  5. Inexperienced.
2. Of or concerning punk rock or its associated subculture.
verb
third-person singular simple present punks, present participle punking, simple past and past participle punked
1. (slang) To pimp.
2. (slang, transitive) To forcibly perform anal sex upon (an unwilling partner).
  Quotations
  "Hell, Haggerty, with that caved-in chest you got, and with your guts pickled in alcohol, and a leg and a half in the grave, the Navy wouldn't even take you for punkin', Barney sourly said.
  1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 19, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan
  If you start to stare at men's asses, to try & punk them in their moments with God; you are an enemy of God! Anyone looking upon a man as though a woman is in danger of judgement! -<><
  2022 April 30, @GisUsIsReal, Twitter
3. (slang, transitive) To prank.
4. (especially with "out") To give up or concede; to act like a wimp.
5. (transitive, often with "out" or "up") To adapt or embellish in the style of the punk movement.
  Quotations
  Suzy, a pump young woman with sparkling brown eyes and punked hair tucked behind her ears, said blankly, "What?"
  1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, page 60
  Like the Apartments, the supports hadn't written many songs of their own. They ran on that old standby, “fun,” in the form of “punked up” versions of pop songs like “It's my Party,” alongside obscure new wave/punk covers such as Lene Lovich's “Cuckoo Clock.”
  2011, David Nichols, The Go-Betweens, page 60
  Their raucous take on the beloved, iconic Israeli folk song allegedly drew the ire of the songwriter, Naomi Shemer, and inspired Yidcore to punk up Jewish culture in myriad ways over the course of the next decade.
  2016, Michael Croland, Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk: Jews and Punk, page 59

punk²

/pʌŋk/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural punks
1. (uncountable) Any material used as tinder for lighting fires, such as agaric, dried wood, or touchwood, but especially wood altered by certain fungi.
  Quotations
  As the East-Indians use Moxa, so these burn with Punk, which is the inward Part of the Excrescence or Exuberance of an Oak.
  1707, John Clayton (botanist), Virginia in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London XLI, page 149
  If they attack a house that is pretty well manned, they [Indians in Pennsylvania] creep behind some fence, or hedge, or tree, and shoot red-hot iron slugs, or punk, into the roof, and fire the house […]
  1756, John Bartram, edited by William Darlington, Memorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall, published 1849
  On one occasion a venerable old Indian man, who, in order to light his pipe, was trying to catch a spark upon a piece of punk struck from his flint and steel; ...
  1899, H. B. Cushman, History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians, page 271
  The oil is mixed with bits of dry wood or punk and moulded into sticks about a cubit long and an inch in diameter by putting it into joints of small bamboo.
  1922, Harry Ignatius Marshall, The Karen People of Burma, page 61
  He made him a little smoldering pocket of punk to light the fuses and waited.
  2001, William W. Johnstone, War of the Mountain Man, page 116
2. (countable) A utensil for lighting wicks or fuses (such as those of fireworks) resembling stick incense.
  Quotations
  On the end a coal of fire slowly smouldered. It would last for hours, and my cell-mate called it a "punk."
  1907, Jack London, The Road‎
  Then, without another word, he rose and left the shelter, apparently in order to light the vessel's wick with a punk from the dying campfire.
  1994, Ashland Price, Viking Tempest, page 353
  He raised the cylinder high in the air with his bare hand, used a punk to light the fuse, and KABOOM!
  2004, Shawn Shiflett, Hidden Place, page 221

punk³

/pʌŋk/

noun
plural punks
1. Any of the punk genres: dieselpunk, solarpunk, steampunk etc.

Definition of "punk"

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