Library / English Dictionary

BUNCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any collection in its entirety

Example:

she bought the whole caboodle

Synonyms:

bunch; caboodle; lot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("bunch" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A grouping of a number of similar things

Example:

a cluster of admirers

Synonyms:

bunch; clump; cluster; clustering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("bunch" is a kind of...):

agglomeration (a jumbled collection or mass)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bunch"):

knot (a tight cluster of people or things)

swad (a bunch)

tuft; tussock (a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass)

Instance hyponyms:

Northern Cross (a cluster of 5 bright stars forming a cross in the constellation Cygnus)

Omega Centauri (a global cluster in the constellation Centaurus)

Pleiades (a star cluster in the constellation Taurus)

Derivation:

bunch (gather or cause to gather into a cluster)

bunch (form into a bunch)

bunchy (occurring close together in bunches or clusters)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An informal body of friends

Example:

he still hangs out with the same crowd

Synonyms:

bunch; crew; crowd; gang

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("bunch" is a kind of...):

assemblage; gathering (a group of persons together in one place)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gather or cause to gather into a cluster

Example:

She bunched her fingers into a fist

Synonyms:

bunch; bundle; clump; cluster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "bunch" is one way to...):

form (assume a form or shape)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bunch"):

agglomerate (form into one cluster)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

bunch (a grouping of a number of similar things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form into a bunch

Example:

The frightened children bunched together in the corner of the classroom

Synonyms:

bunch; bunch together; bunch up

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "bunch" is one way to...):

clump; cluster; constellate; flock (come together as in a cluster or flock)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

bunch (a grouping of a number of similar things)

Credits

 Context examples: 

On the one hand, you get a bunch of oxygen.

(Scientists Find Way to Extract Oxygen from Moon Dirt, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Dwarf planets tend to be a mysterious bunch.

(2007 OR10: Largest Unnamed World in the Solar System, NASA)

Typically, there is a slow drizzle of escaping electrons, but occasionally impulsive bunches of particles, called microbursts, are scattered out of the belts.

(FIREBIRD II and NASA Mission Locate Whistling Space Electrons’ Origins, NASA)

"I wisht they'd spring up a bunch of moose or something, an' go away an' leave us alone," Bill said.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

They were small men, wiry, active, and well-built, with lank black hair tied up in a bunch behind their heads with a leathern thong, and leathern also were their loin-clothes.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Brown, soft-eyed children ran out from the quaint stone hovels to offer nosegays, or bunches of oranges still on the bough.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And she produced from her pocket a most housewifely bunch of keys, and delivered them to the servant.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It can be used as baby or ''teen'' leaf in salad bags, as bunched products, and in spring mixes for fresh-market consumption.

(World's First True Red Spinach Variety Released, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

"What we've done is take a gene from a banana that originated in Papua New Guinea and is naturally very high in pro-vitamin A but has small bunches, and inserted it into a Cavendish banana," Professor Dale said.

(Golden Bananas High in Pro-Vitamin A Developed, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is like tossing a bunch of glazed doughnuts in the air — roughly the same percentage of doughnuts always will be positioned in the edge-on and face-on positions, regardless of whether they are tightly clumped or spread far apart.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)