funk

n. [ OE. funke a little fire; akin to Prov. E. funk touchwood, G. funke spark, and perh. to Goth. fōn 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 ]

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).

n. an earthy, seemingly unsophisticated style of jazz music having elements of black American blues and gospel. [ PJC ]

n. A genus of robust East Asian clump-forming perennial herbs having racemose flowers: plantain lilies; sometimes placed in the family Hostaceae.
Syn. -- Hosta, genus Hosta, genus Funka. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. one of many families or subfamilies into which some classification systems subdivide the Liliaceae, but not widely accepted; it includes the genus Hosta.
Syn. -- Hostaceae, family Hostaceae, family Funkaceae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. A shrinking back through fear. [ Colloq. ] “The horrid panic, or funk (as the men of Eton call it).” De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, great fear, or funking; having great fear. [ Colloq. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]