trunk

trunk
    n 1: the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the
         bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for
         lumber [syn: {trunk}, {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}, {trunk},
       {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}, {trunk}]
    5: a long flexible snout as of an elephant [syn: {proboscis},
       {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.
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            About the mossy trunk I wound me soon,
            For, high from ground, the branches would require
            Thy utmost reach.                     --Milton.
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   2. The body of an animal, apart from the head and limbs.
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   3. The main body of anything; as, the trunk of a vein or of
      an artery, as distinct from the branches.
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   4. (Arch) That part of a pilaster which is between the base
      and the capital, corresponding to the shaft of a column.
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   5. (Zool.) 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.
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   6. (Zool.)
      (a) The proboscis of an elephant.
      (b) The proboscis of an insect.
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   7. A long tube through which pellets of clay, p?as, etc., are
      driven by the force of the breath.
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            He shot sugarplums them out of a trunk. --Howell.
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   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.
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            Locked up in chests and trunks.       --Shak.
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   9. (Mining) A flume or sluice in which ores are separated
      from the slimes in which they are contained.
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   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.
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   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.
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   {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} (Zool.), the leatherback.
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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.
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   2. (Mining) To extract (ores) from the slimes in which they
      are contained, by means of a trunk. See {Trunk}, n., 9.
      --Weale.
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173 Moby Thesaurus words for "trunk":
      L, WATS, WATS line, anatomy, anthrophore, antlia, axis, baluster,
      balustrade, banister, barrel, base, beak, beezer, bill, bin, body,
      bole, bones, boot, box, branch, bugle, cable, cable railway, cane,
      carcass, carpophore, caryatid, case, cask, casket, caudex,
      caulicle, caulis, chest, clay, clod, co-ax, coaxial cable, coffer,
      cog railway, colonnade, column, concentric cable, conk, corpus,
      culm, cylinder, cylindroid, dado, die, drum, el, electric railway,
      elevated, elevated railway, embankment, feeder, feeder line,
      figure, flesh, footstalk, form, frame, funicule, funiculus,
      gravity-operated railway, haulm, horse railway, hulk, jack,
      junction, leafstalk, light railroad, line, locker, main line,
      material body, metro, monorail, muffle, muzzle, nares, neb,
      newel-post, nib, nose, nostrils, nozzle, olfactory organ,
      party line, pecker, pedestal, pedicel, peduncle, person, petiole,
      petiolule, petiolus, physical body, physique, pier, pilaster, pile,
      piling, pillar, pipe, plinth, pole, post, private line, proboscis,
      queen-post, rack railway, rack-and-pinion railway, rail, rail line,
      railroad, railway, reed, rhinarium, roadbed, roadway, roll, roller,
      rostrum, rouleau, schnozzle, seedstalk, shaft, sidetrack, siding,
      smeller, snoot, snout, socle, soma, spear, spire, staff, stalk,
      stanchion, stand, standard, stem, stipe, stock, straw,
      street railway, streetcar line, subbase, subway, surbase,
      switchback, telegraph cable, telegraph line, telephone line,
      terminal, terminus, tigella, torso, track, tram, tramline, trestle,
      trolley line, trunk line, tube, turnout, underground, upright,
      wire line