Translation guide
How to express the action of dunking something, especially food into a liquid, in Japanese.
To dip or submerge food briefly into a drink or sauce before eating.
dunk a cookie in milk · dunk bread in soup
General verb meaning 'to soak' or 'to dip'. Commonly used for dunking food into liquid.
パンをコーヒーに浸して食べる。
I dunk bread in coffee and eat it.
Very common verb meaning 'to dip' or 'to attach'. Often used for dipping food into sauce.
ドーナツをミルクにつける。
I dunk a donut in milk.
Means 'to dip briefly', emphasizing a quick dunk.
クッキーを紅茶にちょっと浸す。
I briefly dunk a cookie in tea.
To score by jumping and putting the ball directly through the hoop.
Loanword from English, used as a suru-verb. Standard term in basketball.
彼は試合でダンクした。
He dunked in the game.
Noun meaning 'dunk shot'. Often used to describe the action.
彼のダンクシュートはすごかった。
His dunk shot was amazing.
To push a person or object under water, often in a playful or aggressive manner.
Transitive verb meaning 'to sink' or 'to submerge'. Can be used for dunking someone.
友達をプールに沈めた。
I dunked my friend in the pool.
Colloquial phrase meaning 'to thrust into water'. Implies a sudden dunk.
弟の頭を水に突っ込んだ。
I dunked my little brother's head in the water.
Both mean 'to dip', but 浸す often implies soaking for a longer time or submerging completely, while つける is more general and can mean just touching the surface. For quick dunking, ちょっと浸す or つける are natural.