spunks
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Lucifer-matches.—Herefordshire; Scotland. SPUNK, says Urry, in his MS. notes to Ray, "is the excrescency of some tree, of which they make a sort of tinder to light their pipes with."
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Where it’s used:
Origin
British & Irish English
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “spunks” mean?
Lucifer-matches.—Herefordshire; Scotland. SPUNK, says Urry, in his MS. notes to Ray, "is the excrescency of some tree, of which they make a sort of tinder to light their pipes with."
Is “spunks” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.