junk

junk ¹  (jngk)

n.

1. Discarded material, such as glass, rags, paper, or metal, some of which may be reused in some form.

2. Informal

a. Articles that are worn-out or fit to be discarded: broken furniture and other junk in the attic.

b. Cheap or shoddy material.

c. Something meaningless, fatuous, or unbelievable: nothing but junk in the annual report.

3. Slang Heroin.

4. Hard salt beef for consumption on board a ship.

tr.v. junked, junk·ing, junks

To discard as useless or sell to be reused as parts; scrap.

adj.

1. Cheap, shoddy, or worthless: junk jewelry.

2. Having a superficial appeal or utility, but lacking substance: "the junk issues that have dominated this year's election" (New Republic).

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[Middle English jonk, an old cable or rope.]

Word History: The word junk is an example of the change in meaning known as generalization, and very aptly too, since the amount of junk in the world seems to be generalizing and proliferating rapidly. The Middle English word jonk, ancestor of junk, originally had a very specific meaning restricted to nautical terminology. First recorded in 1353, the word meant "an old cable or rope." On a sailing ship it made little sense to throw away useful material since considerable time might pass before one could get new supplies. Old cable was used in a variety of ways, for example, to make fenders, that is, material hung over the side of the ship to protect it from scraping other ships or wharves. Junk came to refer to this old cable as well. The big leap in meaning taken by the word seems to have occurred when junk was applied to discarded but useful material in general. This extension may also have taken place in a nautical context, for the earliest, more generalized use of junk is found in the compound junk shop, referring to a store where old materials from ships were sold. Junk has gone on to mean useless waste as well.

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junk ²  (jngk)

n.

A Chinese flatbottom ship with a high poop and battened sails.

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[Portuguese junco or Dutch jonk, both from Javanese djong, variant of djung, from Old Javanese jong, sea-going ship.]

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junk ¹

Noun

1. old or unwanted objects

2. Informal rubbish: the sheer junk written about astrology

3. Slang narcotic drugs, esp. heroin [Middle English jonke old useless rope]

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junk ²

Noun

a Chinese sailing boat with a flat bottom and square sails [Portuguese junco, from Javanese jon]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	junk - the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up debris, detritus, rubble, dust rubbish, trash, scrap - worthless material that is to be disposed of slack - dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve
	2.	junk - any of various Chinese boats with a high poop and lugsails boat - a small vessel for travel on water lugsail, lug - a sail with four corners that is hoisted from a yard that is oblique to the mast
Verb	1.	junk - dispose of (something useless or old); "trash these old chairs"; "junk an old car"; "scrap your old computer" scrap, trash chuck out, discard, cast aside, cast away, throw away, toss away, toss out, put away, throw out, cast out, dispose, fling, toss - throw or cast away; "Put away your worries"

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junk

noun rubbish, refuse, waste, scrap, litter, debris, crap (slang) garbage chiefly U.S. trash, clutter, rummage, dross, odds and ends, oddments, flotsam and jetsam, leavings, dreck (slang), chiefly U.S.

Translations

junk [dʒʌŋk] n (= cheap goods) → baratijas fpl (= lumber); trastos mpl viejos (= rubbish); basura;

(ship) → junco

vt (esp US) → deshacerse de

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junk [dʒʌŋk] n (= rubbish) → camelote f (= cheap goods); bric-à-brac m inv (= ship); jonque f

vt (inf) → abandonner, mettre au rancart

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junk [dʒʌŋk] n (rubbish) → Gerümpel nt;

(cheap goods) → Ramsch m;

(ship) → Dschunke f

vt (inf) → ausrangieren

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junk [dʒʌŋk] n (= rubbish) → chincaglia;

(ship) → giunca

vt → disfarsi di

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junk¹

n junk [dʒaŋk]

unwanted or worthless articles; rubbish That cupboard is full of junk; (also adjective ) This vase was bought in a junk shop (= a shop that sells junk). rommel, gemors خُرْدَه، نُفايَه вехтории staré krámy ragelse; marskandiser- der Trödel; Trödel... άχρηστα αντικείμενα, σαβούρα, που έχει σχέση με σαβούρα trastos vanakraam آت و آشغال؛ خرت و پرت romu bric-à-brac גְרוּטָאוֹת बेकार वस्तु smeće limlom rongsokan drasl, skran cianfrusaglie がらくた 못쓰는 물건 šlamštas, utilis grabažas barang-barang lama rommel skrap(-), skrot; avfall rupiecie lixo gunoi хлам staré krámy, haraburdy stara šara bezvredan predmet skrot, skräp, lump เศษของที่ไม่ใช้แล้ว çer çöp, hurda 廢棄物 ганчір'я, хлам کباڑ đồ tạp nhạp 废弃物

n junk food

food such as potato chips, sweets and doughnuts, which is mass-produced and is of low nutritional value. gemorskos, kafkos, ongesonde kos طَعام بسيط سريع قليل الفائِده вредна храна (от която се пълнее бързо) bufetová strava junkfood das Junkfood πρόχειρο φαγητό κακής ποιότητας comida basura rämpstoit هله هوله؛ غذای ناسالم אוֹכֵל לא בָּרִיא अंडबंड खाना brza hrana olcsó, egészségtelen ennivaló, nass jajanan (cibo poco sostanzioso) ジャンクフード nemaistingas gatavas maistas nepilnvērtīga barība (čipsi u.tml.) makanan ringan junkfood gatekjøkkenmat, usunn mat niezdrowe jedzenie нездоровая пища rýchle občerstvenie (s malou nutričnou hodnotou) hitro pripravljena, manjvredna hrana brza hrana skräpmat อาหารขยะ; อาหารที่มีคุณค่าต่ำแต่มีแคลอรี่สูง abur cubur yiyecek 垃圾食品 неповноцінна їжа کم غذائیت والی خوراک quà vặt 垃圾食品