English Explanatory Dictionary

pun

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To beat; strike with force; to ram; to pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder, to pulverize.
  2. To make or tell a pun; to make a play on words.
noun
  1. A joke or type of wordplay in which similar definitions or sounds of two words or phrases, or different definitions of the same word, are deliberately confused.
noun
  1. Alternative form of bun (“Korean unit of measure”).
noun
  1. A certain number of cowries, generally 80.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

pŭn /pʌn/ /pʊn/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pun.wav

Word forms

pun puns punning punned pund

Etymology

From Middle English ponnen, ponen, punen, from Old English punian, pūnian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush, grind”), from Proto-Germanic *punōną (“to break to pieces, pulverize”). See pound. As a kind of word play, from the notion of "beating" the words into place.

Synonyms

paronomasia play on words

Derived words

no pun intended punacious puncept pun intended punless punlet punlike punnable punnage punner punnery punnily punnish punnology punny pun-off punsmith punster puntastic visual pun
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