Dunkirk

[ duhn-kurk ]

noun

1. French Dun·kerque [d, œn, -, kerk]. a seaport in N France: site of the evacuation of a British expeditionary force of over 330,000 men under German fire May 29–June 4, 1940.
2. a period of crisis or emergency when drastic measures must be enforced:

   The smaller nations were facing a financial Dunkirk.

3. a city in W New York, on Lake Erie.

Dunkirk

1. The scene of a remarkable, though ignominious, retreat by the British army in World War II . Dunkirk, a town on the northern coast of France , was the last refuge of the British during the fall of France , and several hundred naval and civilian vessels took the troops back to England in shifts over three days.

Notes

The term Dunkirk is sometimes used to signify a desperate retreat.

Example Sentences

Available in Maryland at Apple Greene Wine & Spirits and Dunkirk Wine & Spirits in Dunkirk, District East Beer & Wine in Frederick.

From Washington Post

He began showing some promise in 2003, taking fifth place at race known as the Four Days of Dunkirk in May of that year.

From The Daily Beast

That was an “Obama initiative” in about the same way that Dunkirk was a Churchill initiative.

From The Daily Beast

The Republican Guard pulled off a "desert Dunkirk" to fight another day.

From The Daily Beast

And now and then one finds, at the hotel in Dunkirk, some English nurses who are having a holiday.

From Project Gutenberg

Air raids had grown common in Dunkirk, and there were no street lights in the little city.

From Project Gutenberg

This day come the King's pleasure-boats from Calais, with the Dunkirk money, being 400,000 pistolles.

From Project Gutenberg

Reckoning it with Dunkirk and the Vendean expedition, the government had to confess to three failures in the year.

From Project Gutenberg

Apples and grapes are sent away to other points, and no doubt supply in a measure the breweries and distilleries of Dunkirk.

From Project Gutenberg