trunk

trunk

1. the main stem of a tree, usually thick and upright, covered with bark and having branches at some distance from the ground

2. Anatomy the body excluding the head, neck, and limbs; torso

3. the elongated prehensile nasal part of an elephant; proboscis

4. US and Canadian an enclosed compartment of a car for holding luggage, etc., usually at the rear

5. Anatomy the main stem of a nerve, blood vessel, etc.

6. Nautical a watertight boxlike cover within a vessel with its top above the waterline, such as one used to enclose a centreboard

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Trunk

 

the highly developed stem of ligneous plants, which is substantially thicker and taller than lateral branches. In trees with monopodial branching the trunk is the main axis that develops from the growing point of the sprout. In trees with sympodial branching the trunk is formed from successive secondary axes.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

What does it mean when you dream about a trunk?

The trunk of a tree may represent one’s inner sense of well-being and personality. A thick bark over a large, hefty trunk denotes a strong, rugged, and durable person. A thin, narrow, bark-free tree trunk suggests a highly sensitive but wiry individual. If the trunk is the long nose of an elephant, the dreamer may have a strong “nose for the news” and a very good memory. Alternatively an elephant’s trunk may have a phallic and sexual meaning. Finally, a trunk in the sense of an old-fashioned storage case may reveal the old memories and secrets to which the dreamer is clinging.

The Dream Encyclopedia, Second Edition © 2009 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

trunk

[trəŋk]

(anatomy)

The main mass of the human body, exclusive of the head, neck, and extremities; it is divided into thorax, abdomen, and pelvis.

(botany)

The main stem of a tree.

(communications)

A path over which information is transferred in a computer.

A telephone line connecting two central offices. Also known as trunk circuit.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

trunk

A shared communications channel between two points. Coined by the telephone industry, a trunk typically refers to a high-bandwidth, fiber-optic line between switching centers (central offices). Telephone trunks handle thousands of simultaneous voice and data signals, whereas telephone "lines" are the wires from the central office to the customer.

The term migrated to the information networking industry and may refer to a high-speed or medium-speed channel for data packets.

SIP Trunks
With the advent of voice over IP (VoIP), a SIP trunk is assigned by a SIP provider to a customer, and a single trunk supports one or more telephone numbers (see SIP trunking). See central office.

Copyright © 1981-2019 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.