Noun

(en-noun)

(countable, obsolete) A spark.

* 1886 , , 2009, page 109,

“That?s none such an entirely bad little man, yon little man with the red head,” said Alan. “He has some spunks of decency.”

(uncountable) Touchwood; tinder.

* 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , II.5:

Spunk , or Touch-wood prepared, might perhaps make it Russet: and some, as Beringuccio affirmeth, have promised to make it Red.

(countable, chiefly, Scotland, obsolete) A piece of tinder, sometimes impregnated with sulphur; a match.

* 1829 , Society for Relief of the Destitute Sick (Edinburgh), Report , page 7,

At present, her only means of procuring subsistence for herself and children, is by making spunks or matches, which, either she or her eldest child, a girl about six years of age, sells from door to door.

* 1843 , John Wilson, John Gibson Lockhart, William Maginn, James Hogg, The Noctes Ambrosianæ of “Blackwood” , Volume IV, page 396,

“Spunks' — '''spunks''' — '''spunks''' — who will buy my ' spunks ?” — cried an errant voice with a beseeching earnestness.

(uncountable) Courage; spirit; mettle; determination.

* 1920 August, Edward Leonard, Old Zeke?s Mule'', '' , 55,

“I reckon I?m as good as a mule,” he declared. “Maria knows what that desert is as well as we do, but she?s got more spunk' than either of us. I'm not going to let any mule show more ' spunk than me.”

* 1991 , Lindsey Hanks, (copyright Linda Chesnutt, Georgia Pierce), Long Texas Night , Zebra Books, US, page 26,

“You've got spunk', missy, I?ll have to say that for you. Maybe with your ' spunk and my good looks we can get this place in shape again.”

It was Sarah?s turn to laugh.

*

(countable, UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) An attractive person (normally male).

* 2005 , Sue Austin, Women?s Aggressive Fantasies: A Post-Jungian Exploration of Self-Hatred, Love and Agency , Routledge, UK, page 166,

We are welcomed by 20 year old spunks , as we make a last valiant attempt with our bodies - gasp, gasp - and try to get back in shape.

(uncountable, chiefly, UK, vulgar, slang) Semen.

* 2007 , Debra Hyde, Kidnapped'', Violet Blue (editor), ''Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women , 2010, ReadHowYouWant, page 188,

It was runny stuff and, as she felt Brain loosen his hold on the drawstrings, Cackle's spunk dripped onto the shelf of her chin.

Noun

(es)

The state of being manful

*{{quote-book, year=1881, author=Thomas Carlyle, title=Past and Present, chapter=, edition= citation

, passage=He will at least have the manfulness to depart out of it, if not; to say: "I cannot move in thee, and be a man; like a wretched drift-log dressed in man's clothes and minister's clothes, doomed to a lot baser than belongs to man, I will not continue with thee, tumbling aimless on the Mother of Dead Dogs here:--Adieu!" }}

*{{quote-book, year=1881, author=Charles Kingsley, title=Westminster Sermons, chapter=, edition= citation

, passage=He only sees his own weakness, and want of life, of spirit, of manfulness , of power. }}

*{{quote-book, year=1825, author=Thomas Carlyle, title=The Life of Friedrich Schiller, chapter=, edition= citation

, passage=Nor were these sentiments, be it remembered, the mere boasting manifesto of a hot-brained inexperienced youth, entering on literature with feelings of heroic ardour, which its difficulties and temptations would soon deaden or pervert: they are the calm principles of a man, expressed with honest manfulness , at a period when the world could compare them with a long course of conduct. }}