dunk

v., dunked, dunk·ing, dunks.

v.tr.

1. To plunge into liquid; immerse. See synonyms at dip.
2. To dip (food) into a liquid food, such as a beverage or sauce, prior to eating.
3. Basketball. To slam (a ball) through the basket from above.

v.intr.

1. To submerge oneself briefly in water.
2. Basketball. To slam a ball through the basket from above.

n.

1. The act or an instance of dunking.
2. A liquid or creamy food into which other foods are dunked.
3. Basketball. A dunk shot.

[Pennsylvania Dutch dunke, from Middle High German dunken, from Old High German dunkōn.]

dunker dunk'er n.

verb

To plunge briefly in or into a liquid: dip, douse, duck, immerge, immerse, souse, submerge, submerse. See enter/exit.

noun

The act of swimming: dip, duck, plunge, swim. See work/play.

from Pennsylvania German
This word originated in United States

We are a nation of dunkers. What would a doughnut be without coffee, or maybe milk, to dunk it in? Who would buy biscotti without a mocha or latte for dunking? And where would basketball be without the slam-dunk? Thanks to a small, serious band of immigrants who came to North America more than two centuries ago, we don't have to worry about those questions.

These immigrants were members of the eighteenth-century Brethren movement who fled persecution in Germany and settled in William Penn's tolerant colony of Pennsylvania. There, unmolested, they could practice their back-to-the-Bible, New Testament-centered religion. There are still Brethren churches today, one of their associations having the motto "The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible."

The German word tunken means "immerse," and the Brethren were known as Tunker because they took baptism seriously and insisted on complete immersion. And proper baptism required not just one but three dunkings, one for each of the persons of the Trinity. The Tunker baptized only adults because they wanted them to understand the significance of the ceremony.

In the distinctive variety of German that these Tunkers developed in Pennsylvania, the T became a D, and they became Dunkers of souls. There is an English-language reference to Dunkers as early as 1744. The name remained unchanged for nearly two more centuries, but in the twentieth century it dipped into everyday use. A 1919 magazine article titled "Some Notes on Dunking" includes the remark, "It should be remembered that the really fastidious dunker never burns his thumb." Today there is nothing sacred about dunk.

The language the Dunkers spoke became part of what we call Pennsylvania German. It is an offshoot of the German language, a mixture of dialects of Rhenish Palatinate Low German with High German and some English, so that it does not sound like anything spoken in Germany and indeed is hard for a German to understand. Today about 85,000 people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and a number of other states speak one of the several dialects of Pennsylvania German. Like German and English, it belongs to the Germanic branch of our Indo-European language family.

Other words English has acquired from Pennsylvania German include hex (1830), spritz (1902), and snollygoster (1860), a name for a self-seeking politician. Pennsylvania German is also the source of some words in Pennsylvania regional English, including smearcase (1829), another name for cottage cheese, and gumband (1959), another name for rubber band.

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - dyppe, nedsænke
v. intr. - dunke
n. - dunk

idioms:

• dunk in    nedsænke i
• dunk shot    skud under spring, hopskud

Nederlands (Dutch)
dopen, duik

Français (French)
v. tr. - tremper (un pain, un croissant) (dans son café, etc)
v. intr. - faire trempette
n. - (fait) de tremper

idioms:

• dunk in    tremper dans, faire trempette dans
• dunk shot    (Sport) envoyer le ballon dans le filet (basket-ball)

Deutsch (German)
v. - eintunken, tauchen
n. - (Basketball) Korbschuss aus der Luft

idioms:

• dunk in    eintauchen
• dunk shot    (Basketball) Korbschuß aus der Luft

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - βουτάω ψωμί σε σούπα ή ρόφημα, βυθίζω αρνητικά σε διάλυμα

idioms:

• dunk in    βουτώ στο νερό
• dunk shot    καρφί (στο μπάσκετ)

Italiano (Italian)
inzuppare

idioms:

• dunk in    inzuppare
• dunk shot    schiacciata

Português (Portuguese)
v. - embeber

idioms:

• dunk in    molhar algo comestível em líquido
• dunk shot    passar a bola pelo cesto (Esp.)

Русский (Russian)
макать

idioms:

• dunk in    макать
• dunk shot    заколачивание мяча в корзину (баскетбол)

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - mojar, remojar, hundir
v. intr. - mojar, remojar, hundir
n. - mojo, salsa, hundida

idioms:

• dunk in    tirarse al agua
• dunk shot    tiro de altura en basquetbol

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - doppa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
泡, 浸, 浸入水中, 扣篮

idioms:

• dunk in    浸入, 泡入...里
• dunk shot    扣篮

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 泡, 浸
v. intr. - 浸入水中, 扣籃
n. - 浸, 泡, 扣籃

idioms:

• dunk in    浸入, 泡入...裡
• dunk shot    扣籃

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - ~을 액체에 담그다, 물속에 빠뜨리다
v. intr. - 물건을 액체에 담그다
n. - 덩크 슛

idioms:

• dunk in    ~에 담그다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 浸す, コーヒーにつける, ダンクショットをする

idioms:

• dunk in    浸す
• dunk shot    ダンクショット

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يغمس الطعام في سائل قبل أكله, يضع شخص أو شئ في الماء لمدة وجيزة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮טבל (עוגה בקפה), הטביע (כדורסל)‬
v. intr. - ‮טבל (עוגה בקפה), הטביע (כדורסל)‬
n. - ‮רוטב, ממרח‬

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nike dunk	nike dunk high
John Starks Dunk	nike dunk low