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1. 1.1count noun An admirer or player of punk rock, typically characterized by coloured spiked hair and clothing decorated with safety pins or zips.
   ‘punks fought Teds on the Kings Road on Saturday afternoons’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Wearing black leather, dark eye makeup, and dyed hair, the punks stand before graffiti-covered brick walls and inside doorways scowling at the camera.’
   • ‘Back then he was a punk with green hair and ear rings.’
   • ‘In another, she mingles with East Village punks in pink-and-orange hair, distressed biker jacket, shredded tights, and sleep-deprived eyes.’
   • ‘Ever seen people with green and blue hair that dress like punks?’
   • ‘This punk had her short hair completely purple.’
   • ‘He wore a leather jacket to school against regulations, a punk spiked dog collar despite being told numerous times to remove it and died his midnight black hair an incongruous blond.’
   • ‘A young punk with a hair dyed laser pink came over to my table.’
   • ‘Winona thought Devon was really cute, he had black hair and was a punk.’
   • ‘A tall punk with flaming red hair had his arm slung tightly around her waist in a possessive manner.’
   • ‘When I got out I had to step around a punk with blue hair wearing a woman's leopard-print shirt.’
   • ‘In order to stay away from these images, I will leave you with this: Think innovative punk rockers with safety pins through freshly pierced ears.’
   • ‘I'm one of those punks whose hair color changes with their mood.’
   • ‘Because we were the generation that had been raised on a diet of 1970s dreariness, of safety-pinned punks and urban grot.’
   • ‘I vaguely recall photo spreads of spiky-haired punks in a newspaper colour supplement, but that's it really.’
   • ‘The Diamondbacks are as streaky as a punk rocker's hair.’
   • ‘When he was in Denver he showed up with spiked hair, like a punk rocker.’
   • ‘What about when you were a teenager - did you dress any particular way - were you a hippy or a punk?’
   • ‘But it was the visual image of the tribes that scandalised the public: the bovver boots and crops of the skins; the safety pins and loo-brush hairdos of the punks.’
   • ‘In some of her designs for trousers, there was the additional and creative element of safety pins, a unique accessory for punks, a reason she won kudos that night.’
   • ‘I even saw some old skinhead-type punks down at the front who seemed to appreciate the band.’

2North American informal A worthless person (often used as a general term of abuse)

1. 2.1A criminal or thug.
   More example sentences

   • ‘there's never been a better time to take our streets back from the punks’
   • ‘He had the kind of face that made him look like a punk or thug.’
   • ‘Two upside-down Yakuza punks were stepping up onto the platform.’
   • ‘And we today would be worshiping some pantheon of gangster punks instead of Him.’
   • ‘There were homeless people, and gutter punks, and crime - muggings and prostitution.’
   • ‘It's more like several mini-sequences: the botched hijacking, Brian and Dominic's square-off with the Asian punks, and their final confrontation.’
   • ‘The Setex Security Chief didn't like gang punks any more than Alan did, but he didn't like Alan much, either.’
   • ‘When he gets mugged by a gang of street punks and left beaten up in an alley, Goda's desire for a gun grows even more intense.’
   • ‘She turned to see a gang of street punks with chains and very sharp weapons that they showed off.’
   • ‘The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the streets, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.’
   • ‘Less than .00001 percent of handguns ever manufactured have been used for illegal activities, and 99 percent of the time by punks some goofy judge figured ought to be out on the street with us.’
   • ‘They need to be treated like the junkies and street punks that they are.’
   • ‘We got the most amazing answer - something like $450 million was owed in outstanding fines, with some young punks out there owing up to $90,000.’
   • ‘Presumably assaulting a 67-year-old woman and threatening to dig up her husband's body makes these nutcases feel like their true revolutionaries rather than pathetic punks.’
   • ‘While Spidey may not be packing heat or killing punks like Tommy Vercetti, the GTA influenced gameplay makes webslinging so much more exciting than previous games.’
   • ‘We're all no doubt envisioning worthless adolescent punks who deserve to lose some teeth, but what if the perpetrator is female, or a precocious 12-year-old?’
   • ‘It tells the story of Ellie, Gerald and Dan, three street punks fresh from reform school, who are desperate and need money.’
   • ‘The four punks who attacked Sammy were all sitting handcuffed to chairs on the defendant's side of the room.’
   • ‘It would demonstrate American capabilities to the armed punks who rape, torture and murder the unarmed and helpless on a daily basis.’
   • ‘Gove is a notorious figure, playing with NYC's gutter punks L.E.S. Stitches and, more recently, street-punk kings U.S. Bombs.’
   • ‘Chidduck sends his bagman, Sarno, to talk to the punks in a Mexican bordello where they're hiding out.’
2. 2.2US derogatory (in prison slang) a passive gay man.
   More example sentences

   • ‘he determined to be made into no one's punk’
3. 2.3An inexperienced young person.
   More example sentences

   • ‘you were a nobody, a punk kid starting out’
   • ‘I was a punk, know-it-all kid to summarize. I have matured drastically since 16 and continue to do so.’
   • ‘Compared to Europe, the US seems like the immature fifteen year old punks in the back of the room giggling when someone says ‘boobie.’’
   • ‘The kings of the heartogram didn't fail to impress, with a diverse crowd gathered, including everyone from young punks to soccer moms and even a haggard old bat dancing around in lingerie.’
   Synonyms

   novice, starter, learner, student, pupil, trainee, apprentice, probationer

3North American mass noun Soft, crumbly wood that has been attacked by fungus, used as tinder.

1Relating to punk rock and its associated subculture.

2North American informal In poor condition.

1US informal Trick or deceive.

1. 1.1(chiefly in sport) defeat utterly.
   More example sentences

   • ‘the Tigers punked the Sooners 40–6’