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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
trunk
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
bathing trunks
swimming trunks
trunk call
trunk road
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
black
▪ There were no features, save mounds below the snow, and the black of trunks.
▪ But the trees were tall firs, dripping wet with dank bracken underneath among the black trunks.
▪ They all wore caps and goggles and black trunks and Nutty couldn't tell who was who.
▪ She puts her arms gingerly and tenderly round an inscrutable black trunk.
main
▪ Now let us see how the branches grow from the main trunk; at what angle do they grow from the trunk?
▪ It also explains why it is virtually certain that Britain's main trunk lines will rely on optical fibre.
▪ It involves cutting down the main trunk to encourage new growth from the edge of the stump.
▪ As the phrase suggests, a main trunk of cables splits off into branches which supply individual subscribers.
▪ In a switched-star system, only main trunk lines need handle the full range of signals, to and from subscribers.
▪ By 1926 there were nine bus routes, although trams still operated all the main trunk routes.
old
▪ As the oldest trunks fall over, they are replaced by new shoots which appear continually around the base of the tree.
▪ We are sinewy, old wood, old trunks with fading limbs and few leaves!
▪ Just find an old trunk, sit down and listen.
▪ I got dressed and went into the barn and looked for the old wooden trunk near the rear entrance.
▪ It was an old tin steamer trunk, its corners reinforced with iron shoes.
▪ So far as possible she hid things, in a cupboard, under her bed, in an old trunk under the stairs.
swimming
▪ His swimming trunks had a name-tape sewn to the waistband: J. Rossiter.
■ NOUN
call
▪ It is really the public video trunk call office.
line
▪ It also explains why it is virtually certain that Britain's main trunk lines will rely on optical fibre.
▪ A mystery phone number turned out to be a White House trunk line.
▪ Twenty-five trunk lines went into Chicago and most of them had attendant freight and passenger depots.
▪ Sewer line: Replacement for trunk line from Napa Street to state Route 163.
▪ Despite the cost, Telecom is now irrevocably committed to optical fibres in all its new telephone speech and data trunk lines.
▪ The most efficient way to heat a house is to give each register its own supply duct directly off the trunk lines.
▪ In a star network, trunk lines carry all the signals to switching points which route selected services to individual subscribers.
▪ If turns have to be made in the trunk lines, they should have a smooth radius.
lines
▪ It also explains why it is virtually certain that Britain's main trunk lines will rely on optical fibre.
▪ The most efficient way to heat a house is to give each register its own supply duct directly off the trunk lines.
▪ Twenty-five trunk lines went into Chicago and most of them had attendant freight and passenger depots.
▪ If turns have to be made in the trunk lines, they should have a smooth radius.
▪ Despite the cost, Telecom is now irrevocably committed to optical fibres in all its new telephone speech and data trunk lines.
▪ In a star network, trunk lines carry all the signals to switching points which route selected services to individual subscribers.
▪ The trunk lines called for stations of all sizes from small lean-to flag stations to large city termini.
▪ Also it is more difficult to provide interactive services because the trunk lines become cluttered with return signals from each branch.
road
▪ The school is situated half way between Maidstone and Ashford on the A20 trunk road.
▪ By 1676 it was part of the main Oxford to Coventry road and of course remains as a major trunk road today.
▪ Yet, on minor roads as well as trunk roads, studies find that standards are declining.
▪ It enables continued good progress on the A74 and further improvements to the M8 and other trunk roads and local roads.
▪ Why not a cost-benefit analysis of trunk roads?
▪ Patching the cracks and filling in the potholes falls to the County Council everywhere except trunk roads and motorways.
▪ Some 40 new ones will be opened by 1995 on trunk road alone.
▪ This completes the link between the A8 and the A1 trunk roads.
route
▪ Operations should be run by a highly centralized unitary body which would provide services on the trunk routes of the world.
▪ By 1926 there were nine bus routes, although trams still operated all the main trunk routes.
steamer
▪ My possessions were a suitcase full of clothes and a steamer trunk full of books.
▪ He died en route to Los Angeles, locked in a steamer trunk.
▪ It was an old tin steamer trunk, its corners reinforced with iron shoes.
▪ So crack open those musty steamer trunks.
▪ The wealthy girl had every model of Ginny doll and steamer trunks full of clothes for them.
▪ He had brought them to the hospital in a steamer trunk.
tin
▪ Did I mention, I discovered a dozen rolls of the original wallpaper in a tin trunk in the attic?
▪ Bread is baked every day in a tin trunk and all food is cooked over an open fire.
▪ An enormous tin trunk was brought down from the attic, and systematically packed with everything needed for a month's holiday.
▪ Keeps them in a tin trunk in his pillbox.
tree
▪ He was lounging back against the tree trunk a few yards away, consulting his compass and studying the map intently.
▪ Hiding in the swamp, Sammler lay under a tree trunk, in the mud, under scum.
▪ Forty feet away was a nest box fixed to a tree trunk at a height of 8 feet above the ground.
▪ And the tree trunks to black.
▪ Although they do not need it to fight they are usually armed with a big club made from a tree trunk.
▪ A mourning cloak butterfly flew up from a tree trunk in the sunshine where it was basking.
▪ I thought the great central arch of two tree trunks looked like our Blessed Lord's arms holding up the whole Church.
▪ Gao Yang screamed, too, and banged his head against the tree trunk.
■ VERB
find
▪ I found them in a trunk in the attic.
▪ We found all boxes, trunks, cabinets, drawers, some even too small for a baby to hide in.
▪ Just find an old trunk, sit down and listen.
▪ And in one case, three teen-age girls were found unconscious in a trunk and rushed to a local hospital.
▪ In one of the rooms we found trunks of clothes.
▪ When Jean-Claude took over the space for his piano, he found himself lugging the trunk into the light.
open
▪ It would be like opening the trunk and the wedding-dress not being there.
▪ One wanted me to open the trunk.
▪ Pulling over, Henry throws open the trunk to reveal the blood-spattered body of a rival mafioso.
▪ I offered to open the trunk.
▪ Some 40 new ones will be opened by 1995 on trunk road alone.
▪ The other day for example, at a neighborhood market, I saw a woman carrying grocery bags open her car trunk.
▪ I opened the trunk again, and Mike and Penny put their bags in.
pack
▪ No need to pack trunks this time.
▪ But so did much of what had been packed into that massive trunk.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As the phrase suggests, a main trunk of cables splits off into branches which supply individual subscribers.
▪ Barbara Molland had found the box in a trunk that stood under the window in Kate's room.
▪ His powerful trunk and huge belly filled the chair and the yellow cattleman's boots were laced half way up the stout legs.
▪ Now, this tree is aberrant in that it has two trunks.
▪ One wanted me to open the trunk.
▪ Parked on his trunk, Mitchell finished reading the Miami HemId; both the crowd and his optimism began to thin out.
▪ She knelt by the trunk, flinging aside papers, reaching down and down, scrabbling in the corners.
▪ She stepped on the emergency brake and got out to help Paul get his suitcase in the trunk.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Trunk

Trunk \Trunk\, n. [F. tronc, L. truncus, fr. truncus maimed, mutilated; perhaps akin to torquere to twist wrench, and E. torture. Trunk in the sense of proboscis is fr. F. trompe (the same word as trompe a trumpet), but has been confused in English with trunk the stem of a tree (see Trump a trumpet). Cf. Truncate.]

  1. The stem, or body, of a tree, apart from its limbs and roots; the main stem, without the branches; stock; stalk.

    About the mossy trunk I wound me soon, For, high from ground, the branches would require Thy utmost reach.
    --Milton.

  2. The body of an animal, apart from the head and limbs.

  3. The main body of anything; as, the trunk of a vein or of an artery, as distinct from the branches.

  4. (Arch) That part of a pilaster which is between the base and the capital, corresponding to the shaft of a column.

  5. (Zo["o]l.) That segment of the body of an insect which is between the head and abdomen, and bears the wings and legs; the thorax; the truncus.

  6. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. The proboscis of an elephant.

    2. The proboscis of an insect.

  7. A long tube through which pellets of clay, p?as, etc., are driven by the force of the breath.

    He shot sugarplums them out of a trunk.
    --Howell.

  8. A box or chest usually covered with leather, metal, or cloth, or sometimes made of leather, hide, or metal, for containing clothes or other goods; especially, one used to convey the effects of a traveler.

    Locked up in chests and trunks.
    --Shak.

  9. (Mining) A flume or sluice in which ores are separated from the slimes in which they are contained.

  10. (Steam Engine) A large pipe forming the piston rod of a steam engine, of sufficient diameter to allow one end of the connecting rod to be attached to the crank, and the other end to pass within the pipe directly to the piston, thus making the engine more compact.

  11. A long, large box, pipe, or conductor, made of plank or metal plates, for various uses, as for conveying air to a mine or to a furnace, water to a mill, grain to an elevator, etc.

    Trunk engine, a marine engine, the piston rod of which is a trunk. See Trunk, 10.

    Trunk hose, large breeches formerly worn, reaching to the knees.

    Trunk line, the main line of a railway, canal, or route of conveyance.

    Trunk turtle (Zo["o]l.), the leatherback.

Trunk

Trunk \Trunk\, v. t. [Cf. F. tronquer. See Truncate.]

  1. To lop off; to curtail; to truncate; to maim. [Obs.] ``Out of the trunked stock.''
    --Spenser.

  2. (Mining) To extract (ores) from the slimes in which they are contained, by means of a trunk. See Trunk, n., 9.
    --Weale.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
trunk

"elephant's snout," 1560s, apparently from trunk (n.1), perhaps from confusion with trump (n.2), short for trumpet.

trunk

mid-15c., "box, case," from Old French tronc "alms box in a church," also "trunk of a tree, trunk of the human body, wooden block" (12c.), from Latin truncus "trunk of a tree, trunk of the body," of uncertain origin, perhaps originally "mutilated, cut off." The meaning "box, case" is likely to be from the notion of the body as the "case" of the organs. English acquired the "main stem of a tree" and "torso of the body" senses from Old French in late 15c. The sense of "luggage compartment of a motor vehicle" is from 1930. Railroad trunk line is attested from 1843; telephone version is from 1889.

Wiktionary
trunk

n. 1 (lb en heading biological) ''Part of a body.'' 2 # The (usually single) upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches: the tree trunk. 3 # The torso. 4 # The extended and articulated nose or nasal organ of an elephant. 5 # The proboscis of an insect. 6 (lb en heading) ''A container.'' 7 # A large suitcase, usually requiring two persons to lift and with a hinged lid. 8 # A box or chest usually covered with leather, metal, or cloth, or sometimes made of leather, hide, or metal, for holding or transporting clothes or other goods. 9 # (lb en US Canada automotive) The luggage storage compartment of a sedan/saloon style car. 10 (lb en heading) ''A channel for flow of some kind.'' 11 # (lb en US telecommunications) A circuit between telephone switchboards or other switching equipment. 12 # A chute or conduit, or a watertight shaft connecting two or more decks. 13 # A long, large box, pipe, or conductor, made of plank or metal plates, for various uses, as for conveying air to a mine or to a furnace, water to a mill, grain to an elevator, etc. 14 # (lb en archaic) A long tube through which pellets of clay, pas, etc., are driven by the force of the breath. 15 # (lb en mining) A flume or sluice in which ores are separated from the slimes in which they are contained. 16 (lb en software engineering, jargon) In software projects under source control: the most current source tree, from which the latest unstable builds (so-called "trunk builds") are compiled. 17 The main line or body of anything. 18 # (lb en transport) A main line in a river, canal, railroad, or highway system. 19 # (lb en architecture) The part of a pilaster between the base and capital, corresponding to the shaft of a column. 20 A large pipe forming the piston rod of a steam engine, of sufficient diameter to allow one end of the connecting rod to be attached to the crank, and the other end to pass within the pipe directly to the piston, thus making the engine more compact. 21 Shorts used for swimming (swim trunks). vb. 1 (context obsolete English) To lop off; to curtail; to truncate. 2 (context mining English) To extract (ores) from the slimes in which they are contained, by means of a trunk.

WordNet
trunk
  1. n. the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber [syn: tree trunk, bole]

  2. luggage consisting of a large strong case used when traveling or for storage

  3. the body excluding the head and neck and limbs; "they moved their arms and legs and bodies" [syn: torso, body]

  4. compartment in an automobile that carries luggage or shopping or tools; "he put his golf bag in the trunk" [syn: luggage compartment, automobile trunk]

  5. a long flexible snout as of an elephant [syn: proboscis]

Wikipedia
Trunk (car)

The trunk ( North America and Jamaica) or boot (Commonwealth English) of a car is the vehicle's main storage compartment. In South Asia the trunk is usually called a dickie/dicky or slang diggy.

Trunk

Trunk may refer to:

In biology:

  • Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant
  • Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso
  • Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure

Containers:

  • Trunk (car), a large storage compartment
  • Trunk (luggage)
  • Trunk (motorcycle), a storage compartment

Computing:

  • Trunk (software), in revision control
  • Virtual LAN, a trunk port

Other uses:

  • "Trunks" were a group of airlines officially sanctioned by the United States Civil Aeronautics Board in the years prior to deregulation consisting of "the Big Four" airlines and the smaller BN, CS, CO, NA, NE, NW, WA along with Capital Airlines, Colonial Airlines, and Mid-Continent Airlines, permitted to operate a system of air route networks.
  • Trunk, 2013 album by Ulf Lundell
  • Trunk line, in telecommunications, a system of shared network access
  • Trunk shot, auto-trunk camera work
  • Trunk Records, a record label
  • Trunk road, a major road, usually connecting two or more population or commercial centers
  • Trunk show, a merchandising event
Trunk (botany)

In botany, trunk (or bole) refers to the main wooden axis of a tree, which is an important diagnostic feature in tree identification, and which often differs markedly from the bottom of the trunk to the top, depending on the species. The trunk is the most important part of the tree for timber production.

Trunks occur both in "true" woody plants as well as non-woody plants such as palms and other monocots, though the internal physiology is different in each case. In all plants, trunks thicken over time due to formation of secondary growth (or in monocots, pseudo-secondary growth). Trunks can be vulnerable to damage, including sunburn. Trunks which are cut down in logging are generally called logs and if cut to a specific length bolts.

floating.jpg|Raft of timber logs avellana12.jpg|Cross section of a hazel bole Lovely Rotting Log - geograph.org.uk - 998345.jpg|Log being decomposed by bracket fungi

Trunk (luggage)

A trunk, also known as a travel trunk, is a large cuboid container for holding clothes and other personal belongings, generally about 30 inches to 36 inches (76 cm to 91 cm) long with varying widths of 16 to 22 inches (41 to 56 cm) and various heights. They were most commonly used for extended periods away from home, such as for boarding school, or long trips abroad. Most trunks are now used as either furniture such as glass-covered coffee-tables or decorative storage for everything from blankets and linens to memorabilia and military paraphernalia. Trunks are differentiated from chests by their more rugged construction due to their intended use as luggage, instead of the latter's pure storage.

Among the many styles of trunks there are Jenny Lind, Saratoga, monitor, steamer or Cabin, barrel- staves, octagon or bevel-top, wardrobe, dome-top, barrel-top, wall trunks, and even full dresser trunks. These differing styles often only lasted for a decade or two as well, and—along with the hardware—can be extremely helpful in dating an unmarked trunk.

Trunk (software)

In the field of software development, trunk refers to the unnamed branch (version) of a file tree under revision control. The trunk is usually meant to be the base of a project on which development progresses. If developers are working exclusively on the trunk, it always contains the latest cutting-edge version of the project, but therefore may also be the most unstable version. Another approach is to split a branch off the trunk, implement changes in that branch and merge the changes back into the trunk when the branch has proven to be stable and working. Depending on development mode and commit policy the trunk may contain the most stable or the least stable or something-in-between version. Other terms for trunk include baseline, mainline, and master, though in some cases these are used with similar but distinct senses – see Revision control: Common vocabulary. The trunk is also sometimes loosely referred to as HEAD, but properly head refers not to a branch, but to the most recent commit on a given branch, and both the trunk and each named branch has its own head.

Often main developer work takes place in the trunk and stable versions are branched, and occasional bug-fixes are merged from branches to the trunk. When development of future versions is done in non-trunk branches, it is usually done for projects that do not change often, or where a change is expected to take a long time to develop until it will be ready for incorporating in the trunk.

Trunk (album)

Trunk is a 2013 Ulf Lundell album.

Usage examples of "trunk".

Carrying three of the children, Nila the elephant ambled past with her trunk curled around a bundle of hay.

He travelled by jeep through an invariable terrain of architectonic vegetation where no wind lifted the fronds of palms as ponderous as if they had been sculpted out of viridian gravity at the beginning of time and then abandoned, whose trunks were so heavy they did not seem to rise into the air but, instead, drew the oppressive sky down upon the forest like a coverlid of burnished metal.

The arrowheads were barbless mild steel, honed to a needlepoint for penetration, and one of the guerrillas had stood off thirty paces and sunk one of these arrows twenty inches into the fleshy fibrous trunk of a baobab tree.

We also saw on our way the trunk of a tree barked in long strips and splintered deeply.

And a wooden cottage with a thatched roof and barkless tree trunks for a doorframe would certainly have offended his sensibilities.

At this major crossroads was a gallows tree, a huge oak held together by brass hoops bolted around the pitted and barkless trunk it had been dead for the last ten years.

Perched on a jutting eminence, and half shrouded in the bushes which clothed it, the silent fisherman took his place, while his fly was made to kiss the water in capricious evolutions, such as the experienced angler knows how to employ to beguile the wary victim from close cove, or gloomy hollow, or from beneath those decaying trunks of overthrown trees which have given his brood a shelter from immemorial time.

One could almost hear the tittering laughter of women: berouged strumpets, the storytellers leered, playthings of Yankee financiers, scarlet women who had packed their trunks with fine dresses they expected to wear at dances in Richmond.

He heard something moving in front of him, the dead leaves betraying each step, and he stepped forward as quickly as he dared, craning his neck to see beyond the thick trunks just before him.

This agreed to, Herbert, Neb, and Pencroft, after having torn three sticks from the trunk of a young fir, followed Top, who was bounding about among the long grass.

And certainly, pedestrians, hindered at each step by bushes, caught by creepers, barred by trunks of trees, did not shine beside those supple animals, who, bounding from branch to branch, were hindered by nothing on their course.

And yet suddenly there it was in his hand, wet and coarse and strong, and when they caught hold of the branchless trunk of a hundred-year-old oak that stood in back of the hotel, he was able to tie Madge on.

Leaving the nearly branchless trunk for somebody else to roll in, Catalan took aim at the next ballyhoo and brought it down too.

The trees were giants, rising branchless to far above their heads, the trunks aglow with moss.

Its trunk, branchless for sixty feet, was too thick to climb, but he found a younger and slimmer tree, up which he could squirm and from its upper branches traverse to the other.