pun


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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.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pun

(pʌn)
n
(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) the use of words or phrases to exploit ambiguities and innuendoes in their meaning, usually for humorous effect; a play on words. An example is: "Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms: But a cannonball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms." (Thomas Hood)
vb, puns, punning or punned
(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (intr) to make puns
[C17: possibly from Italian puntiglio point of detail, wordplay; see punctilio]

pun

(pʌn)
vb, puns, punning or punned
(Building) (tr) Brit to pack (earth, rubble, etc) by pounding
[C16: dialectal variant of pound1]
ˈpunner n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pun

(pʌn)

n., v. punned, pun•ning. n.
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. a word or phrase used in this way.
v.i.
3. to make puns.
[1655–65; perhaps identical with pun, variant, now dial., of pound1, i.e., to mistreat (words)]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

pun


Past participle: punned
Gerund: punning

Imperative
pun
pun
Present
I pun
you pun
he/she/it puns
we pun
you pun
they pun
Preterite
I punned
you punned
he/she/it punned
we punned
you punned
they punned
Present Continuous
I am punning
you are punning
he/she/it is punning
we are punning
you are punning
they are punning
Present Perfect
I have punned
you have punned
he/she/it has punned
we have punned
you have punned
they have punned
Past Continuous
I was punning
you were punning
he/she/it was punning
we were punning
you were punning
they were punning
Past Perfect
I had punned
you had punned
he/she/it had punned
we had punned
you had punned
they had punned
Future
I will pun
you will pun
he/she/it will pun
we will pun
you will pun
they will pun
Future Perfect
I will have punned
you will have punned
he/she/it will have punned
we will have punned
you will have punned
they will have punned
Future Continuous
I will be punning
you will be punning
he/she/it will be punning
we will be punning
you will be punning
they will be punning
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been punning
you have been punning
he/she/it has been punning
we have been punning
you have been punning
they have been punning
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been punning
you will have been punning
he/she/it will have been punning
we will have been punning
you will have been punning
they will have been punning
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been punning
you had been punning
he/she/it had been punning
we had been punning
you had been punning
they had been punning
Conditional
I would pun
you would pun
he/she/it would pun
we would pun
you would pun
they would pun
Past Conditional
I would have punned
you would have punned
he/she/it would have punned
we would have punned
you would have punned
they would have punned
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

pun

Comic play on words which sound similar but differ in meaning.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.pun - a humorous play on wordspun - a humorous play on words; "I do it for the pun of it"; "his constant punning irritated her"
fun, sport, play - verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously); "he became a figure of fun"; "he said it in sport"
Verb1.pun - make a play on words; "Japanese like to pun--their language is well suited to punning"
jest, joke - tell a joke; speak humorously; "He often jokes even when he appears serious"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

pun

noun play on words, quip, double entendre, witticism, paronomasia (Rhetoric), equivoque The title of the book is a pun on his name.
Quotations
"A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket" [John Dennis]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
تَوْرِيَه، تَلاعُب جِناسي بالألْفاظيَتلاعَب بالألْفاظ
slovní hříčkadělat slovní hříčky
ordspillave ordspil
تجنیس
sanaleikki
szójátékszójátékot csinál
leika sér aî merkingu orîaorîaleikur
駄洒落
kalambūrassakyti kalambūrus
kalambūrs, vārdu spēlelietot kalambūru
gra słówkalambur
calamburjoc de cuvinte
robiť slovné hračkyslovná hračka
ordvits
cinascinas yapmakkelime oyunu

pun

[ˈpʌn] njeu m de mots, calembour m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pun

nWortspiel nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

pun

[pʌn] ngioco di parole
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

pun

(pan) noun
a type of joke in which words are used that have a similar sound, but a different meaning. One example of a pun would be `A pun is a punishable offence'.
verbpast tense, past participle punned
to make a pun.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
"I don't believe that," said Tip, plainly; "anybody can make a pun."
Should you happen to venture on one, It will sigh like a thing that is deeply distressed: And it always looks grave at a pun.
"The old name translated means 'Diana's Grove.' Then the next one higher than it, but just beyond it, is called 'MERCY'--in all probability a corruption or familiarisation of the word MERCIA, with a Roman pun included.
I do not intend the pun, and can awkwardly revise the statement to "latitudes more remote from the equator;" Yet Hawaii is only sub-tropical.
`It's a pun!' the King added in an offended tone, and everybody laughed, `Let the jury consider their verdict,' the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
Then, with a judgment peculiarly antic (pun not intended), then take hold of opposite ends of that grasshopper leg a nd begin to tug with all their might in opposite directions.
Her own family were plain, matter-of-fact people who seldom aimed at wit of any kind; her father, at the utmost, being contented with a pun, and her mother with a proverb; they were not in the habit therefore of telling lies to increase their importance, or of asserting at one moment what they would contradict the next.
Over the door, by way of a sign there hung a marvellous daub, representing new sons and dead chickens,* with this, pun below: Aux sonneurs pour les trépassés ,--The wringers for the dead.
Thuillier, who was fond of making puns, declared that an anagram was nothing more than a pun on letters.
The moon served as a pretext for a thousand stale puns and a score of ballads, in which bad taste contested the palm with ignorance.
Next our peaceful Tupman comes, So rosy, plump, and sweet, Who chokes with laughter at the puns, And tumbles off his seat.
Throughout, too, we come on little bits of doggerel rimes, bad puns, simple jokes, mixed up with scraps of politics, with threatenings of war, with party quarrels, with all kinds of stray fragments of news which bring the life of the times vividly before us.