From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpunkpunk /pʌŋk/ noun 1 [uncountable] (also punk rock)APM a type of loud music popular in the late 1970s and 1980s2 [countable] (also punk rocker)SSY someone who likes punk music and wears things that are typical of it, such as torn clothes, metal chains, and coloured hair punk hairstyles3 [countable] American English informalSCC a young man who fights and breaks the law4 [uncountable] American EnglishSUBSTANCE a substance that burns without a flame that is used to light fireworks etc
Examples from the Corpus
punk• Think of them as a punk Dire Straits.• Sid Vicious, the smack-addled punk who stabbed his girlfriend in Sid and Nancy.• Guys like that, cheap punks, are easy enough to handle when you feel up to it.• A couple of punks on the far side, also waiting to cross, were pointing at the oblivious Slater and laughing.• Which is fine -- we enjoy a good debate in print, sensationalist punks that we are.• Take punk, it was all about a tight nucleus of bands who were all mates.• I'd like to find the punk who broke off my car antenna.• All these punks are the same.Origin punk 1. (1900-2000) Perhaps from punk “prostitute” ((16-20 centuries)). 2. (1600-1700) Perhaps from spunk “material for lighting fires”; → SPUNK 