Definition of "spunk"

spunk

/spʌŋk/

noun
usually uncountable, plural spunks
1. (countable, obsolete) A spark.
  Quotations
  "[...] That's none such an entirely bad little man, yon little man with the red head," said Alan. "He has some spunks of decency."
  1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Talk with Alan in the Wood of Lettermore”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, pages 176–177
  He […] took from his waistcoatpocket a nickel tinderbox, sprang it open too, and, having lit his cigarette, held the flaming spunk towards Stephen in the shell of his hands.
  1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […]
2. (uncountable) Touchwood; tinder.
  Quotations
  Spunk, or Touch-wood prepared, might perhaps make it Russet: and some, as Beringuccio affirmeth, have promised to make it Red.
  1650, Thomas Browne, chapter II, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], 1st book, page 5
  A piece of Touch-wood (which is a kind of Jews-ear, or Mushrom, growing here in England also, on several sorts of Trees, such as Elders, Maples, Willows, &c. and is commonly call'd by the name of Spunk […]).
  1665, R[obert] Hooke, chapter XXII, in Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. With Observations and Inquiries thereupon, London: Printed by Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […]
3. (countable, chiefly Scotland, obsolete) A piece of tinder, sometimes impregnated with sulphur; a match.
  Quotations
  At present, her only means of procuring subsistence for herself and children, is by making spunks or matches, which, either she or her eldest child, a girl about six years of age, sells from door to door.
  1829, Society for Relief of the Destitute Sick (Edinburgh), Report, p. 7
  “Spunks — spunks — spunks — who will buy my spunks?” — cried an errant voice with a beseeching earnestness […] .
  1843, John Wilson, John Gibson Lockhart, William Maginn, James Hogg, The Noctes Ambrosianæ of “Blackwood”, volume IV, page 396
4. (uncountable) Courage; spirit; mettle; determination.
  Quotations
  “I reckon I′m as good as a mule,” he declared. “Maria knows what that desert is as well as we do, but she′s got more spunk than either of us. I'm not going to let any mule show more spunk than me.”
  1920 August, Edward Leonard, "Old Zeke′s Mule", Boys′ Life, p. 55
  Douglas: You've got spunk. And balls. And I like that in a woman.
  2007 September 28, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 6
5. (countable, UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) An attractive person (normally male).
  Quotations
  We are welcomed by 20 year old spunks, as we make a last valiant attempt with our bodies - gasp, gasp - and try to get back in shape.
  2005, Sue Austin, Women′s Aggressive Fantasies: A Post-Jungian Exploration of Self-Hatred, Love and Agency, UK: Routledge, page 166
6. (uncountable, chiefly UK, vulgar, slang) Semen.
  Quotations
  Between spunk-stained sheet and odorous whim / Camera eye-flick-shudder within
  1980, “In the Flat Field”, in In the Flat Field, performed by Bauhaus
  It was runny stuff and, as she felt Brain loosen his hold on the drawstrings, Cackle's spunk dripped onto the shelf of her chin.
  2007, Debra Hyde, “Kidnapped”, in Violet Blue, editor, Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women, ReadHowYouWant, published 2010, page 188
verb
third-person singular simple present spunks, present participle spunking, simple past and past participle spunked
1. (intransitive, obsolete) To catch fire; flame up.
2. (intransitive, slang, vulgar) To ejaculate.
3. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To waste (money etc.).

Definition of "spunk"

spunk

noun

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verb