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Pun

 - 5 dictionary results

pun

  [puhn] noun, verb, punned, pun⋅ning.
Use Pun in a Sentence
–noun
1. the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.
2. the word or phrase used in this way.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make puns.
Origin:
1655–65; perh. special use of pun, var. (now dial.) of pound 1 , i.e., to mistreat (words)

Related forms:
punless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Pun
pun   (pŭn)   
n.  A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
intr.v.   punned, pun·ning, puns
To make puns or a pun.

[Origin unknown.]
pun'ning·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

pun

A humorous substitution of words that are alike in sound but different in meaning (see double-entendre), as in this passage from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll:

“And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
“Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle, “nine the next, and so on.”
“What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice.
“That's the reason they're called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked: “because they lessen from day to day.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pun  (n.)
1662, probably a clipped form of pundigron, which is perhaps a humorous alteration of It. puntiglio "equivocation, trivial objection," dim. of L. punctum "point." The verb is attested from 1670. Johnson has also punster, defined as "a low wit who endeavours at reputation by double meaning."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

pun

a humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest different meanings or applications, or a play on words, as in the use of the word rings in the following nursery rhyme: Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,To see a fine lady upon a white horse; Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,She shall have music wherever she goes

Learn more about pun with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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