pun definition | Dictionary.com

pun

[puhn]

noun, verb, punned, pun⋅ning.

–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.
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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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Pun

Pun\, v. t. [See Pound to beat.] To pound. [Obs.]

He would pun thee into shivers with his fist. --Shak.

Pun

Pun\, n. [Cf. Pun to pound, Pound to beat.] A play on words which have the same sound but different meanings; an expression in which two different applications of a word present an odd or ludicrous idea; a kind of quibble or equivocation. --Addison.

A better put on this word was made on the Beggar's Opera, which, it was said, made Gay rich, and Rich gay. --Walpole.

Pun

Pun\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Punned; p. pr. & vb. n. Punning.] To make puns, or a pun; to use a word in a double sense, especially when the contrast of ideas is ludicrous; to play upon words; to quibble. --Dryden.

Pun

Pun\, v. t. To persuade or affect by a pun. --Addison.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : pun

Spanish: juego de palabras, retruécano,

German: das Wortspiel,

Japanese: ごろ合わせ

More Translations »

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.”

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."

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

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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