punk

• POS: Adjective, Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

punk, n. [Cf. Spunk.].

•  Wood so decayed as to be dry, crumbly, and useful for tinder; touchwood.  [1913 Webster]
•  A fungus (Polyporus fomentarius, etc.) sometimes dried for tinder; agaric.  [1913 Webster]
•  An artificial tinder. See Amadou, and Spunk.  [1913 Webster]
•  A prostitute; a strumpet.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

punk, n. & adj.
--n.
1 a a worthless person or thing (often as a general term of abuse). b nonsense.
2 a (in full punk rock) a loud fast-moving form of rock music with crude and aggressive effects. b (in full punk rocker) a devotee of this.
3 US a hoodlum or ruffian.
4 US a passive male homosexual.
5 US an inexperienced person; a novice.
6 soft crumbly wood that has been attacked by fungus, used as tinder.
--adj.
1 worthless, rotten.
2 denoting punk rock and its associations.

Derivative

punky adj.

Etymology

18th c.: orig. unkn.: cf. SPUNK

THESAURUS

punk

German tinder, JD, Mickey Mouse, a nobody, a nothing, amadou, amiss, auntie, awful, bad, balderdash, baloney, barbarian, barfy, base, bi-guy, bisexual, bosh, brat, bull dyke, bum, bunk, bunkum, butch, catamite, cheap, cheesy, chicken, cipher, claptrap, coarse, common, common man, crappy, creepy, crummy, delinquent, dirty, dissatisfactory, dummy, dyke, elf, enfant terrible, fag, faggot, fairy, femme, figurehead, flit, fourth-class, fricatrice, fruit, gamin, godawful, goon, goshawful, grim, gunsel, had, hairy, hogwash, holy terror, homo, homophile, homosexual, homosexualist, hoodlum, hooligan, hot, icky, imp, inferior, insignificancy, invert, irregular, jackstraw, jerkwater, juvenile delinquent, lesbian, lightweight, little fellow, little guy, little monkey, lousy, low-class, low-grade, low-quality, low-test, man of straw, mean, measly, mediocrity, minx, mug, nance, nebbish, niggling, nobody one knows, nonentity, obscurity, one-horse, paltry, pansy, pathic, pettifogging, petty, picayune, picayunish, piddling, piffling, pip-squeak, poky, poor, puck, punk kid, puny, putrid, pyrotechnic sponge, queen, queer, rotten, ruffian, runt, sapphist, scrub, second-best, second-class, seedy, shabby, shitty, shrimp, small fry, small potato, small potatoes, small-beer, small-time, spoiled brat, spunk, squirt, squit, stinking, stinky, tacky, third-class, third-rate, thug, tinder, tinder fungus, tinderbox, tinhorn, tinny, touchwood, tough, tribade, two-bit, two-by-four, unimportant, unsatisfactory, up, urchin, vandal, vomity, whiffet, whippersnapper, worthless, wrong, yahoo, yecchy

ROGET THESAURUS

punk

Libertine

N libertine, voluptuary, rake, debauchee, loose fish, rip, rakehell, fast man, intrigant, gallant, seducer, fornicator, lecher, satyr, goat, whoremonger, paillard, adulterer, gay deceiver, Lothario, Don Juan, Bluebeard, chartered libertine, adulteress, advoutress, courtesan, prostitute, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie, woman, woman of the town, streetwalker, Cyprian, miss, piece, frail sisterhood, demirep, wench, trollop, trull, baggage, hussy, drab, bitch, jade, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, slut, minx, harridan, unfortunate, unfortunate female, unfortunate woman, woman of easy virtue, wanton, fornicatress, Jezebel, Messalina, Delilah, Thais, Phryne, Aspasia, Lais, lorette, cocotte, petite dame, grisette, demimonde, chippy, sapphist, spiritual wife, white slave, concubine, mistress, doxy, chere amie, bona roba, pimp, procurer, pander, pandar, bawd, conciliatrix, procuress, mackerel, wittol.

Fuel

N fuel, firing, combustible, coal, wallsend, anthracite, culm, coke, carbon, charcoal, bituminous coal, tar shale, turf, peat, firewood, bobbing, faggot, log, cinder, ingle, tinder, touchwood, sulphur, brimstone, incense, port-fire, fire-barrel, fireball, brand, amadou, bavin, blind coal, glance coal, German tinder, pyrotechnic sponge, punk, smudge, solid fueled rocket, wax, paraffin wax, paraffin oil, lamp oil, whale oil, oil, petroleum, gasoline, high octane gasoline, nitromethane, petrol, gas, juice, gasohol, alcohol, ethanol, methanol, fuel oil, kerosene, jet fuel, heating oil, number 2 oil, number 4 oil, naphtha, rocket fuel, high specific impulse fuel, liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen, lox, natural gas, synthetic gas, synthesis gas, propane, butane, hydrogen, brand, torch, fuse, wick, spill, match, light, lucifer, congreve, vesuvian, vesta, fusee, locofoco, linstock, candle, oil, carbonaceous, combustible, inflammable, high octane, high specific impulse, heat of combustion.