hunks
A crotchety or surly person.
Noun dated, slang
- A crotchety or surly person.
- What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel...
- Now, Bildad, I am sorry to say, had the reputation of being an incorrigible old hunks, and in his sea-going days, a bitter, hard task-master. - 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
- I used to fancy my revolver shooting when I was with the colours, and if I do get a chance I’ll put a shot through the old hunks, if only to prove to you that I’m no liar. - 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
- A stingy man; a miser.
Origin
Unknown.
Forms
Noun form of, plural
- plural of hunk
Origin
Inflected forms.