PUNT

punt, punting

(noun) (football) a kick in which the football is dropped from the hands and kicked before it touches the ground; “the punt traveled 50 yards”; “punting is an important part of the game”

punt

(noun) an open flat-bottomed boat used in shallow waters and propelled by a long pole

punt, pole

(verb) propel with a pole; “pole barges on the river”; “We went punting in Cambridge”

punt

(verb) kick the ball

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

punt (plural punts)

(nautical) A pontoon; a narrow shallow boat propelled by a pole.

Verb

punt (third-person singular simple present punts, present participle punting, simple past and past participle punted)

(nautical) To propel a punt or similar craft by means of a pole.

Etymology 2

Verb

punt (third-person singular simple present punts, present participle punting, simple past and past participle punted)

To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.

(rugby, American football, Australian Rules football, Gaelic football, soccer, transitive, intransitive) To kick a ball dropped from the hands before it hits the ground. (This puts the ball farther from the goal across which the opposing team is attempting to score, so improves the chances of the team punting.)

(soccer) To kick a bouncing ball far and high.

(colloquial, intransitive) To equivocate and delay or put off (answering a question, addressing an issue, etc).

To retreat from one's objective; to abandon an effort one still notionally supports.

(colloquial, intransitive) To make the best choice from a set of non-ideal alternatives.

Noun

punt (plural punts)

(rugby, American football, soccer) A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground.

Etymology 3

Noun

punt (plural punts)

A point in the game of faro.

The act of playing at basset, baccara, faro, etc.

A bet or wager.

(AU) Gambling, as a pastime, especially betting on horseraces or the dogs.

A highly speculative investment or other commitment.

A wild guess.

An indentation in the base of a wine bottle.

(glassblowing) A thin glass rod which is temporarily attached to a larger piece in order to better manipulate the larger piece.

Verb

punt (third-person singular simple present punts, present participle punting, simple past and past participle punted)

To play at basset, baccara, faro, etc.

(Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, UK) To stake against the bank, to back a horse, to gamble or take a chance more generally

(figuratively) To make a highly speculative investment or other commitment, or take a wild guess.

Etymology 4

Noun

punt (plural punts)

The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002.

Etymology

Proper noun

Punt (plural er-noun)

(historical) A country in Afar Triangle, Horn of Africa, Africa, in what is now Ethiopia. A country contemporaneous with the Old Kingdom of Egypt, where frankincense, gold, ebony, ivory is found.

Synonyms

• (p-wn:n-t:N25): Land of Punt

Source: Wiktionary


Punt, v. i. Etym: [F. ponter, or It. puntare, fr. L. punctum point. See Point.]

Definition: To play at basset, baccara, faro. or omber; to gamble. She heard . . . of his punting at gaming tables. Thackeray.

Punt, n.

Definition: Act of playing at basset, baccara, faro, etc.

Punt, n. Etym: [AS., fr. L. ponto punt, pontoon. See Pontoon.] (Naut.)

Definition: A flat-bottomed boat with square ends. It is adapted for use in shallow waters.

Punt, v. t.

1. To propel, as a boat in shallow water, by pushing with a pole against the bottom; to push or propel (anything) with exertion. Livingstone.

2. (Football)

Definition: To kick (the ball) before it touches the ground, when let fall from the hands.

Punt, n. (Football)

Definition: The act of punting the ball.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 May 2025

OBLIQUE

(adjective) slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled; “the oblique rays of the winter sun”; “acute and obtuse angles are oblique angles”; “the axis of an oblique cone is not perpendicular to its base”


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Coffee Trivia

There are four varieties of commercially viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa, and Robusta. Growers predominantly plant the Arabica species. Although less popular, Robusta tastes slightly more bitter and contains more caffeine.

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