# bunker

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbʌŋ.kə/ · frequency rank #11,660

## Definitions
1. A hardened shelter, often partly buried or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks.
2. A compartment for storing coal for the ship's boilers; or a tank for storing fuel oil for the ship's engines.
3. The coal compartment on a tank engine; it can also refer to that on a tender engine.
4. Ellipsis of bunker oil (usually plural).
5. A hazard on a golf course consisting of a sand-filled hollow.
6. An obstacle used to block an opposing player's view and field of fire.
7. A large bin or container for storing coal, often built outdoors in the yard of a house.
8. A sort of box or chest, as in a window, the lid of which serves as a seat.
9. A kitchen worktop.

## Etymology
The origin of the noun is uncertain; the earliest sense is sense 6.1 (“box or chest, the lid of which serves as a seat”), from Scots bunker (“bench; pew; window-seat; sand pit (especially in golf); coal receptacle; sleeping berth, bunk”), from Early Scots bunker, bunkur, bonker (“a chest or box, often serving as a seat”), probably from Old Norse bunki (“a heap”) (probably whence bunk (“sleeping berth in a ship, train, etc.”)), from Proto-Germanic *bunkô (“a heap, pile; a bump, lump, a crowd”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick”) or *bʰeg- (“to billow, swell; to arch, bend, curve (?)”). Compare Middle Low German bunge (“drum, container”), Middle High German bunge (“drum”). Sense 1 (“hardened shelter designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks”) was derived from German Bunker during World War II, which was itself from bunker (“large bin or container for storing coal”) (sense 5).
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **buyer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-buyer)
- **burke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-burke)
- **bunks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-bunks)
- **butter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-butter)
- **butler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-butler)
- **burger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-burger)
- **burner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-burner)
- **buster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-buster)
- **buzzer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-buzzer)
- **busier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunker-vs-busier)
- **bunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bunk-vs-bunker)
- **baker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/baker-vs-bunker)
- **biker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/biker-vs-bunker)
- **boner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boner-vs-bunker)
- **banner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/banner-vs-bunker)
- **bucket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bucket-vs-bunker)
- **broker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broker-vs-bunker)
- **banker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/banker-vs-bunker)
- **buffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/buffer-vs-bunker)
- **bumper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bumper-vs-bunker)

## Common misspellings (9)
`bbunker`, `bnuker`, `bukner`, `bunekr`, `bunkerr`, `bunkker`, `bunkre`, `bunnker`, `ubnker`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bunker