SPUNK

heart, mettle, nerve, spunk

(noun) the courage to carry on; “he kept fighting on pure spunk”; “you haven’t got the heart for baseball”

kindling, tinder, touchwood, spunk, punk

(noun) material for starting a fire

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

spunk (usually uncountable, plural spunks)

(countable, obsolete) A spark.

(uncountable) Touchwood; tinder.

(countable, chiefly, Scotland, obsolete) A piece of tinder, sometimes impregnated with sulphur; a match.

(uncountable) Courage; spirit; mettle; determination.

(countable, UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) An attractive person (normally male).

Synonyms: Adonis, beefcake, hunk

(uncountable, chiefly, UK, vulgar, slang) Semen.

Verb

spunk (third-person singular simple present spunks, present participle spunking, simple past and past participle spunked)

(intransitive, obsolete) To catch fire; flame up.

(slang, vulgar) To ejaculate.

Anagrams

• punks

Source: Wiktionary

Spunk (spûnk), n. Etym: [Gael. spong, or Ir. sponc, tinder, sponge; cf. AS. sponge a sponge (L. spongia), spon a chip. Cf. Sponge, Punk.] [Written also sponk.]

1. Wood that readily takes fire; touchwood; also, a kind of tinder made from a species of fungus; punk; amadou. Sir T. Browne.

2. An inflammable temper; spirit; mettle; pluck; as, a man of spunk. [Colloq.] A lawless and dangerous set, men of spunk, and spirit, and power, both of mind and body. Prof. Wilson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition