pun

[puhn] /pʌn/
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), punned, punning.
3.
to make puns.
Origin
1655-65; perhaps special use of pun, variant (now dial.) of pound1, i.e., to mistreat (words)
Related forms
punless, adjective
Examples from the web for pun
  • But as more urbanites become aware of the free bounty surrounding them, new issues are--pardon the pun--cropping up.
  • We're prepared to have you put the pun in punishment, the laugh in onslaught, and the fun in profundity.
  • Despite steady advances in hardware, no machine could think as far as to laugh at a pratfall or make a bad pun.
  • Go ahead, give the video below a spin-pun fully intended.
  • If the same energy, pun not intended, were given to understanding the physics involved with gathering low density energy.
  • Whilst many a pathetic pun is painful, this one is rather good in my opinion.
  • And with that, if you'll forgive the pun, our poet laureate got us out of a jam.
  • Transform money into a phrase or pun that describes cash.
  • Leno desperately needs to walk in others shoes, no pun intended.
British Dictionary definitions for pun

pun1

/pʌn/
noun
1.
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)
verb puns, punning, punned
2.
(intransitive) to make puns
Word Origin
C17: possibly from Italian puntiglio point of detail, wordplay; see punctilio

pun2

/pʌn/
verb puns, punning, punned
1.
(transitive) (Brit) to pack (earth, rubble, etc) by pounding
Derived Forms
punner, noun
Word Origin
C16: dialectal variant of pound1
Word Origin and History for pun
n.

1660s (first attested in Dryden), of uncertain origin, perhaps from pundigron, which is perhaps a humorous alteration of Italian puntiglio "equivocation, trivial objection," diminutive of Latin punctum "point." This is pure speculation. The verb also is attested from 1660s. Related: Punned; punning.

Pun was prob. one of the clipped words, such as cit, mob, nob, snob, which came into fashionable slang at or after the Restoration. [OED]

pun in Culture

pun definition


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.”
Encyclopedia Article for 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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