Dunkirk
[dʌn'kə:k]
Definition
(noun.) an amphibious evacuation in World War II (1940) when 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches in northern France in a desperate retreat under enemy fire.
(noun.) a seaport in northern France on the North Sea; scene of the evacuation of British forces in 1940 during World War II.
(noun.) a crisis in which a desperate effort is the only alternative to defeat; 'the Russians had to pull off a Dunkirk to get out of there'.
Typist: Tim--From WordNet
Examples
- But Mrs. Dunkirk had qualms and yearnings about her daughter, who had long been regarded as lost both to God and her parents. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He moved a step or two till he was in front of Will, and said with full-mouthed haste, Excuse me, Mr. Ladislaw--was your mother's name Sarah Dunkirk? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- These are Alsace, the three bishoprics of Mentz, Toul, and Verdun, and the three cities of Dunkirk, Bayonne, and Marseilles. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Dunkirk, which Cromwell had taken, had already been sold back to France. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Efforts to find her must be made before Mrs. Dunkirk would marry again. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Edited by Craig