- Dunkirk - a crisis in which a desperate effort is the only alternative to defeat; "the Russians had to pull off a Dunkirk to get out of there"
--1 is a kind of crisis
- Dunkirk, Dunkerque - a city in northern France on the North Sea where in World War II (1940) 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in a desperate retreat under enemy fire
--2 is a kind of city, metropolis, urban center; amphibious operation; evacuation
--2 is a part of World War II, World War 2, Second World War - Dunkirk, Dunkerque - a city in northern France on the North Sea where in World War II (1940) 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in a desperate retreat under enemy fire