Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Junk
Junk
,Noun.
1.
Pieces of old cable or old cordage, used for making gaskets, mats, swabs, etc., and when picked to pieces, forming oakum for filling the seams of ships.
2.
Old iron, or other metal, glass, paper, etc., bought and sold by junk dealers.
4.
(Naut.)
Hard salted beef supplied to ships.
Junk bottle
, a stout bottle made of thick dark-colored glass.
– Junk dealer
, a dealer in old cordage, old metal, glass, etc.
– Junk hook
(Whaling)
, a hook for hauling heavy pieces of blubber on deck.
– Junk ring
. (a)
A packing of soft material round the piston of a steam engine
. (b)
A metallic ring for retaining a piston packing in place
; (c)
A follower.
– Junk shop
, a shop where old cordage, and ship’s tackle, old iron, old bottles, old paper, etc., are kept for sale.
– Junk vat
(Leather Manuf.)
, a large vat into which spent tan liquor or ooze is pumped.
– Junk wad
(Mil.)
, a wad used in proving cannon; also used in firing hot shot.
Junk
,Noun.
[Pg.
junco
; cf. Jav. & Malay jong
, ajong
, Chin. chwan
.] (Naut.)
A large vessel, without keel or prominent stem, and with huge masts in one piece, used by the Chinese, Japanese, Siamese, Malays, etc., in navigating their waters.
Webster 1828 Edition
Junk
JUNK
,Noun.
1.
Pieces of old cable or old cordage, used for making points, gaskets, mats, &c., and when untwisted and picked to pieces, it forms oakum for filling the seams of ships.2.
A small ship used in China; a Chinese vessel. [An eastern word.]Definition 2024
junk
junk
English
Noun
junk (uncountable)
- Discarded or waste material; rubbish, trash.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
- In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
-
- A collection of miscellaneous items of little value.
- (slang) Any narcotic drug, especially heroin.
- 1961, William S. Burroughs, The Soft Machine, page 7
- Trace a line of goose pimples up the thin young arm. Slide the needle in and push the bulb watching the junk hit him all over. Move right in with the **** and suck junk through all the hungry young cells.
- 1961, William S. Burroughs, The Soft Machine, page 7
- (slang) Genitalia.
- (nautical) Salt beef.
- Pieces of old cable or cordage, used for making gaskets, mats, swabs, etc., and when picked to pieces, forming oakum for filling the seams of ships.
- (dated) A fragment of any solid substance; a thick piece; a chunk.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Lowell to this entry?)
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:trash
Derived terms
Terms derived from junk
Translations
rubbish, waste
|
miscellaneous items of little value
|
|
narcotic drug
slang: genitalia
Verb
junk (third-person singular simple present junks, present participle junking, simple past and past participle junked)
- (transitive) To throw away.
- (transitive) To find something for very little money (meaning derived from the term junk shop)
- (On Facebook, a record collector wrote:) "The newest addition to my Annette Hanshaw collection, I junked this beautiful flawless E-copy within walking distance from my house."
Synonyms
- (throw away): bin, chuck, chuck away, chuck out, discard, dispose of, ditch, dump, scrap, throw away, throw out, toss, trash
- See also Wikisaurus:junk
Translations
throw away
Etymology 2
From Portuguese junco or Dutch jonk (or reinforced), from Javanese djong, variant of djung, from Old Javanese jong (“seagoing ship”).
Noun
junk (plural junks)
Translations
Chinese sailing vessel
References
Etymology
From Middle English junke (“old cable, rope”), probably from Old French jonc (“rush”), from Latin iuncus (“rush”)[1].
A box full of junk (2)
Pronunciation
- enPR: jŭngk, IPA(key): /dʒʌŋk/
- Rhymes: -ʌŋk