dunk

present singular third person dunks · participle present dunking · participle past dunked · past dunked

1. transitiveTo submerge briefly in a liquid.

   I like to dunk my donut in my apple cider.

2. transitiveTo set down carelessly.

   Parents shouldn't just dunk their kids in front of the TV.

3. ambitransitiveball gamesTo put the ball directly downward through the hoop while grabbing onto the rim with power.

   The center spun quickly and dunked the ball with authority.

4. InternetintransitiveTo put down on social media [with on].

plural dunks

1. The act or instance of dunking, particularly in basketball.

   She gave the biscuit a dunk in her cup of milk.

   2 more examples

   The point guard threaded a pass with pinpoint precision to the power forward for an easy dunk.

   To rattle the rats to the point where their stress response remained demonstrably hyperactive, the researchers exposed the animals to four weeks of varying stressors: moderate electric shocks, being encaged with dominant rats, prolonged dunks in water.

   2009 August 18, Natalie Angier, “Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop”, in New York Times

plural Dunks

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableA locality in Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia, which includes the Family Islands; one is Dunk Island, named after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax.