Trunk

n. [Fr. & Pr. tronc, Sp., Pg., & It. tronco, Lat. truncus, O. Lat. troncus.] 1. The stem or body of a tree, apart from its limbs and roots; the main stem, without the branches; stock; stalk. About the mossy trunk I wound me soon, For high from ground the branches would require Thy utmost reach. Milton.

2. The body of an animal, apart from the limbs, or after the separation of the limbs from it.
3. The main body of any thing; as, the trunk of a vein or of an artery, as distinct from the branches.
4. (Arch.) The shaft of a column.
5. The snout or proboscis of an elephant; the limb or instrument with which he feeds himself.
6. (Entom.) (a.) That segment of the body of an insect which is between the head and abdomen, and bears the organs of motion. (b.) The proboscis of an insect. [Obs.]
7. A long tube through which pellets of clay, peas, and the like, are driven by the force of the breath.

He shot sugar-plums at them out of a trunk. Howell.

8. A box or chest covered with leather or hide, for containing clothes, &c.; especially, one used to convey the effects of a traveler; a portmanteau. “Locked up in chests and trunks.” Shak.
9. A watercourse made of planks, and generally to conduct the water from the race to the water-wheel.
10. (Mining.) A cistern or pit in which ores are extracted from the mud or slime in which they are contained.
11. (Steam-eng.) A large pipe passing longitudinally through the cylinder of a steam-engine, attached to the piston and moving with it, its diameter being sufficient to allow one end of the connecting rod to be attached to the crank, and the other end directly to the piston, thus dispensing with an intermediate rod;—used chiefly in marine engines for driving propellers.

Fire-trunks, in fire-ships, wooden funnels fixed under the shrouds, to convey or lead the flames to the masts and rigging.