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bunk bed

bunk bed

23 1.3
A bed with another bed above it so two people can sleep
  • noun
  • /bʌŋk bɛd/
translation icon : litera
  • The kids can sleep in the bunk bed in their shared room.

One big room, not a suite, like one big room with two bunk beds and another bed.

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Examples

  • The compact rooms consist of bunk beds, two dressers, and a wardrobe.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Storyteller 2: Rachel opened the door of a tiny, windowless cabin with two bunk beds inside.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • There was a bunk bed in that bedroom.

  • Right now you have a bunk bed.

  • Last week, I was sleeping in a bunk bed.

  • Cute Little bunk beds built into the wall so you can have all the kids in here.

  • We're staying in the five bedroom dorm, which has two bunk beds right here.

  • Jed, 9, and Eli, 7, are both in bunk beds across the room.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The boys in their bunk beds slept the extravagant sleep of childhood.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • We're staying in a dormitory with two bunk beds for our group.

Synonyms

bunk
vsbunk bed
121 1.6

A narrow bed in places like camps or dorms

describes two or more stacked single sleeping surfaces arranged vertically

How Space-Saving

bunk bed
23 1.3
Murphy bed
  • US
1 4.8
sofa bed
5 2.6
single bed
  • UK
5 1.0

Surface Forms

bunk bed singular
bunk beds plural

Morphology

bunk + bed

The meaning 'a bed consisting of two or more single beds arranged one above the other' is directly and compositionally derived from 'bunk' (a narrow or stacked sleeping platform) combined with 'bed' (sleeping furniture). This noun–noun compound follows a common, transparent compounding pattern found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Bunk bed comes from the word bunk, which used to mean a 'sleeping shelf' or bench where people slept, and the word bed. People stacked these sleeping shelves to save space, so a bunk bed now means two or more beds one above the other.