From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
funk
n 1: a state of nervous depression; "he was in a funk" [syn:
blue funk]
2: United States biochemist (born in Poland) who showed that
several diseases were caused by dietary deficiencies and
who coined the term `vitamin' for the chemicals involved
(1884-1967) [syn: Funk, Casimir Funk]
v : draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: flinch,
squinch, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil,
quail]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Funk \Funk\ (f[u^][ng]k), n.
an earthy, seemingly unsophisticated style of jazz music
having elements of black American blues and gospel.
[PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Funk \Funk\, v. t.
1. To envelop with an offensive smell or smoke. [Obs.]
--King.
[1913 Webster]
2. To funk at; to flinch at; to shrink from (a thing or
person); as, to funk a task. [Colloq.]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
3. To frighten; to cause to flinch. [Colloq.]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Funk \Funk\, v. i.
1. To emit an offensive smell; to stink.
[1913 Webster]
2. To be frightened, and shrink back; to flinch; as, to funk
at the edge of a precipice. [Colloq.] --C. Kingsley.
[1913 Webster]
To funk out, to back out in a cowardly fashion. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
To funk right out o' political strife. --Lowell
(Biglow
Papers).
Funk
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Funk \Funk\, Funking \Funk"ing\, n.
A shrinking back through fear. [Colloq.] "The horrid panic,
or funk (as the men of Eton call it)." --De Quincey.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Funk \Funk\ (f[u^][ng]k), n. [OE. funke a little fire; akin to
Prov. E. funk touchwood, G. funke spark, and perh. to Goth.
f[=o]n fire.]
1. An offensive smell; a stench. [Low]
[1913 Webster]
2. One who funks; a shirk; a coward. [Colloq.]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
3. a state of fear.
[PJC]
4. a mildly depressed state of mind; -- often used in the
phrase blue funk.
[PJC]