1. (

• 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" ;

2. (

• Dunkirk ,
• Dunkerque

) a seaport in northern France on the North Sea; scene of the evacuation of British forces in 1940 during World War II ;

3. (

• Dunkirk ,
• Dunkerque

) an amphibious evacuation in World War II (1940) when 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches in northern France in a desperate retreat under enemy fire ;