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punt

 - 15 dictionary results

punt

1  [puhnt]
Use punt in a Sentence
–noun
1. Football. a kick in which the ball is dropped and then kicked before it touches the ground. Compare drop kick, place kick.
2. a small, shallow boat having a flat bottom and square ends, usually used for short outings on rivers or lakes and propelled by poling.
–verb (used with object)
3. Football. to kick (a dropped ball) before it touches the ground.
4. to propel (a small boat) by thrusting against the bottom of a lake or stream, esp. with a pole.
5. to convey in or as if in a punt.
–verb (used without object)
6. to punt a football.
7. to propel a boat by thrusting a pole against the bottom of a river, stream, or lake.
8. to travel or have an outing in a punt.
9. Informal. to equivocate or delay: If they ask you for exact sales figures, you'll have to punt.
Origin:
bef. 1000; 1835–45 for def. 1; OE: flat-bottomed boat (not attested in ME) < L pontō punt, pontoon 1 ; sense “to kick a dropped ball” perh. via sense “to propel (a boat) by shoving”

Related forms:
punter, noun

punt

2  [puhnt]
–verb (used without object)
1. Cards. to lay a stake against the bank, as at faro.
2. Slang. to gamble, esp. to bet on horse races or other sporting events.
–noun
3. Cards. a person who lays a stake against the bank.
Origin:
1705–15; < F ponter, deriv. of ponte punter, point in faro < Sp punto point

Related forms:
punter, noun

punt

3  [poont, puhnt]
–noun
a monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland, equal to 100 pence; Irish pound.
Origin:
1970–75; < Ir < E pound 2

Punt

  [poont]
–noun
an ancient Egyptian name of an area not absolutely identified but believed to be Somaliland.

kick

  [kik]
–verb (used with object)
1. to strike with the foot or feet: to kick the ball; to kick someone in the shins.
2. to drive, force, make, etc., by or as if by kicks.
3. Football. to score (a field goal or a conversion) by place-kicking or drop-kicking the ball.
4. Informal. to make (a car) increase in speed, esp. in auto racing: He kicked his car into high gear.
5. to strike in recoiling: The gun kicked his shoulder.
6. Slang. to give up or break (a drug addiction): Has he kicked the habit?
7. Poker. raise (def. 24).
8. Chiefly South Atlantic States. to reject as a suitor; jilt: He courted her for two years—then she kicked him.
–verb (used without object)
9. to make a rapid, forceful thrust with the foot or feet: He kicked at the ball. You have to kick rapidly when using a crawl stroke.
10. to have a tendency to strike with the foot or feet: That horse kicks when you walk into his stall.
11. Informal. to resist, object, or complain: What's he got to kick about?
12. to recoil, as a firearm when fired.
13. to be actively or vigorously involved: He's still alive and kicking.
14. kick upstairs. upstairs (def. 8).
–noun
15. the act of kicking; a blow or thrust with the foot or feet.
16. power or disposition to kick: That horse has a mean kick.
17. Informal. an objection or complaint.
18. Informal.
a. thrill; pleasurable excitement: His biggest kick comes from telling about the victory.
b. a strong but temporary interest, often an activity: Making mobiles is his latest kick.
19. Informal.
a. a stimulating or intoxicating quality in alcoholic drink.
b. vim, vigor, or energy.
20. Football.
a. an instance of kicking the ball.
b. any method of kicking the ball: place kick.
c. a kicked ball.
d. the distance such a ball travels.
e. a turn at kicking the ball.
21. a recoil, as of a gun.
22. Slang. a pocket: He kept his wallet in his side kick.
23. kicks, Slang. shoes (def. 1).
24. Glassmaking.
a. a solid glass base or an indentation at the base of drinking glasses, bottles, etc., that reduces the liquid capacity of the glassware.
b. Also, punt. an indentation at the base of a wine bottle, originally for trapping the sediment.
—Verb phrases
25. kick about, to move from place to place frequently: He kicked about a good deal before settling down.
26. kick around, Informal.
a. to treat (someone) harshly or inconsiderately.
b. to consider, discuss, or speculate about (a proposal, project, etc.): We kicked around various ideas for raising money.
c. to experiment with.
d. to pass time idly; wander from place to place aimlessly: We just kicked around for a year after college.
e. to remain unused, unemployed, or unnoticed: The script has been kicking around for years.
27. kick back,
a. to recoil, esp. vigorously or unexpectedly.
b. Informal. to give someone a kickback.
c. Slang. to return (stolen property, money, etc.) to the owner.
d. to relax: Let's just kick back and enjoy the weekend.
28. kick in,
a. to contribute one's share, esp. in money.
b. Slang. to die.
c. to become operational; activate; go into effect: The air conditioning kicks in when the temperature reaches 80°F.
29. kick off,
a. Football. to begin play or begin play again by a kickoff: The Giants won the toss and elected to kick off.
b. Slang. to die.
c. to initiate (an undertaking, meeting, etc.); begin: A rally tomorrow night will kick off the campaign.
30. kick on, to switch on; turn on: He kicked on the motor and we began to move.
31. kick out, Informal.
a. to oust or eject: They have been kicked out of the country club.
b. to fail; give out: The power kicked out and the room went black.
c. to separate off, as for review or inspection: The computer kicked out the information in a split second.
d. Surfing. to turn a surfboard by shifting the weight to the rear, causing the surfboard to come down over the top of a wave, in order to stop a ride.
32. kick over, Informal. (of an internal-combustion engine) to begin ignition; turn over: The engine kicked over a few times but we couldn't get it started.
33. kick up,
a. to drive or force upward by kicking.
b. to stir up (trouble); make or cause (a disturbance, scene, etc.): They kicked up a tremendous row.
c. (esp. of a machine part) to move rapidly upward: The lever kicks up, engaging the gear.
—Idioms
34. kick ass, Slang: Vulgar.
a. to act harshly or use force in order to gain a desired result.
b. to defeat soundly.
35. kick in the ass, Slang: Vulgar. kick (def. 39a).
36. kick in the pants, Informal.
a. someone or something that is very exciting, enjoyable, amusing, etc.: I think you'll like her, she's a real kick in the pants.
b. kick (def. 40).
37. kick in the teeth, an abrupt, often humiliating setback; rebuff: Her refusal even to talk to me was a kick in the teeth.
38. kick over the traces. trace 2 (def. 3).
39. kick the bucket, Slang. bucket (def. 15).
40. kick the tin, Australian. to give a donation; contribute.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME kiken (v.); orig. uncert.

Related forms:
kick⋅a⋅ble, adjective
kickless, adjective

Synonyms:
1. boot. 11. remonstrate; oppose. 11, 17. grumble, growl, grouch, moan; protest.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To punt
punt 1   (pŭnt)   
n.  An open flatbottom boat with squared ends, used in shallow waters and usually propelled by a long pole.
v.   punt·ed, punt·ing, punts

v.   tr.

  1. To propel (a boat) with a pole.

  2. To carry in a punt.

v.   intr.
To go in a punt.

[Probably Middle English *punt, from Old English punt, from Latin pontō, pontoon, flatbottom boat, from pōns, pont-, bridge; see pent- in Indo-European roots.]
punt'er n.
punt 2   (pŭnt)   
n.  A kick in which the ball is dropped from the hands and kicked before it touches the ground.
v.   punt·ed, punt·ing, punts

v.   tr.
To propel (a ball) by means of a punt.
v.   intr.

  1. To execute a punt.

  2. Informal To cease doing something; give up: Let's punt on this and try something else.


[Perhaps from dialectal punt, to strike, push, perhaps alteration of bunt.]
punt'er n.
punt 3   (pŭnt)   
intr.v.   punt·ed, punt·ing, punts

  1. Games To lay a bet against the bank, as in roulette.

  2. Chiefly British Slang To gamble.


[French ponter, from obsolete pont, past participle of pondre, to put (obsolete), to lay an egg, from Old French, to lay an egg, from Latin pōnere; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]
punt'er n.
punt 4   (pŭnt)   
n.  The indentation in the bottom of a champagne or wine bottle.

[Perhaps from punty, iron rod used in glass blowing, probably from French pontil, from pointe, point, from Old French; see point.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
kick (off)

  1. in.
    to die. : We've been waiting for years for that cat to kick off.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
punt [pənt]

  1. in.
    to do something different in a pinch; to improvise. (From the act of kicking the ball in order to gain ground in football.) : Everyone expected me to lose my temper, so I punted. I cried instead of getting mad.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

kick  (v.)
c.1380, "to strike out with the foot" (earliest in biblical phrase now usually rendered as kick against the pricks), of uncertain origin, perhaps from O.N. kikna "bend backwards, sink at the knees." Fig. sense of "complain, protest, rebel against" (1388) probably is from the Bible verse. Slang sense of "die" is attested from 1725 (kick the wind was slang for "be hanged," 1598; see also bucket). Meaning "to end one's drug habit" is from 1936. To kick oneself in self-reproach is from 1891. The noun is first recorded 1530. Meaning "recoil (of a gun) when fired" is from 1826. Meaning "surge or fit of pleasure" (often as kicks) is from 1941; originally lit., "stimulation from liquor or drugs" (1844). The kick "the fashion" is c.1700. Kick-off is from 1857 as the first kick in a football match; fig. sense of "start, beginning event" is from 1875. Kickback "illegal or improper payment" is from 1934. Kickboxing first recorded 1971.

punt  (1)
"kick," 1845 (n. and v.), first in a Rugby list of football rules, perhaps from dialectal punt "to push, strike," alteration of Midlands dial. bunt "to push, butt with the head," of unknown origin, perhaps echoic. Student slang meaning "give up, drop a course so as not to fail," 1970s, is because a U.S. football team punts when it cannot advance the ball.

punt  (2)
"flat-bottomed boat," O.E. punt, probably an ancient survival of British L. ponto "flat-bottomed boat," a kind of Gallic transport (Caesar), also "floating bridge" (Gellius), from pons, pontem "bridge" (see pontoon).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

punt
(From the punch line of an old joke referring to American football: "Drop back 15 yards and punt!") 1. To give up, typically without any intention of retrying. "Let's punt the movie tonight." "I was going to hack all night to get this feature in, but I decided to punt" may mean that you've decided not to stay up all night, and may also mean you're not ever even going to put in the feature.
2. More specifically, to give up on figuring out what the Right Thing is and resort to an inefficient hack.
3. A design decision to defer solving a problem, typically because one cannot define what is desirable sufficiently well to frame an algorithmic solution. "No way to know what the right form to dump the graph in is - we'll punt that for now."
4. To hand a tricky implementation problem off to some other section of the design. "It's too hard to get the compiler to do that; let's punt to the run-time system."
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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