Dun ‧ kirk /ˌdʌnˈkɜːk◂ $ ˈdʌnkɜːrk/ BrE AmE
a port and industrial city in northern France, whose French name is Dunkerque. In 1940, during World War II, the British army was surrounded at Dunkirk by the German army, but thousands of British soldiers escaped and were brought back to England in a collection of small boats.