Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of swelling out, as a sail.
  • noun The act of pushing, as with the horns or head; butting.
  • noun A game among boys, played with sticks and a small piece of wood cut lengthwise.
  • noun A large piece of timber; a heavy support for machinery or other structures.
  • noun Sifting.
  • Short and thick-set.
  • noun A short and thick-set person.
  • noun A light woolen stuff very loosely woven.
  • noun Flags, especially a vessel's flags, collectively.
  • noun The popular name of a number of conirostral oscine passerine birds of the genus Emberiza and family Fringillidæ.
  • noun By extension, a name given indefinitely and indiscriminately to a great number of emberizine and fringilline birds of all countries, and also to some birds not of the family Fringillidæ.
  • noun The common shrimp, Crangon vulgaris.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A bird of the genus Emberiza, or of an allied genus, related to the finches and sparrows (family Fringillidæ).
  • noun A thin woolen stuff, used chiefly for flags, colors, and ships' signals.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of various songbirds, mostly of the genus Emberiza, having short bills and brown or gray plumage.
  • noun Strips of material used as festive decoration, especially in the colours of the national flag.
  • noun nautical A thin cloth of woven wool from which flags are made; it is light enough to spread in a gentle wind but resistant to fraying in a strong wind.
  • noun Flags considered as a group.
  • verb Present participle of bunt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a loosely woven fabric used for flags, etc.
  • noun any of numerous seed-eating songbirds of Europe or North America

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from dialect bunting ("sifting flour"), from Middle English bonten ("to sift"), hence the material used for that purpose.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

See bunt

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Examples

  • Though slightly ad hoc, the bunting is at least cheerful, and appears to be strung between ground-floor window-frames.

    Archive 2009-03-01 2009

  • … Doesn't he know sacrifice bunting is a waste of time?

    Part Manager, Part Motivator Mike Sielski 2010

  • Patterson said he would bunt if his team needed a baserunner in a close game or if he was struggling, but added, "If I'm swinging the bat well, bunting is the last thing I'm thinking about."

    USATODAY.com - National League Central 2002

  • And in fact, statistically, pitchers bunting is the only way in which NL baseball is vastly different than AL baseball.

    USATODAY.com - Time to blow up those AL, NL myths 2002

  • It shows that bunting is becoming a lost art in baseball.

    Cubbies close to infamous mark 1997

  • The canals were packed with gay barges, houses flaunted in bunting and floral decorations, and a festive air was prevalent in every quarter of the city.

    Jacqueline of the Carrier-Pigeons 1919

  • He thought they resembled the European reed bunting, so drew from the Latin word for "rush," juncus, and that's how the junco got its name.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2010

  • He thought they resembled the European reed bunting, so drew from the Latin word for "rush," juncus, and that's how the junco got its name.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2010

  • “This is the painted bunting, that is the swallow-tailed hawk.”

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

  • “This is the painted bunting, that is the swallow-tailed hawk.”

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

Comments

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  • from a Mother Goose nursery rhyme

    "Bye, Baby Bunting

    Bye, baby bunting,

    Father's gone a-hunting,

    Mother's gone a-milking,

    Sister's gone a-silking,

    And brother's gone to buy a skin

    To wrap the baby bunting in.

    January 20, 2008

  • A baby or infant bunting is a garment like a bag but with arms and a neck opening, usually made of soft blanketlike or fleece material. It is usually worn indoors, also called a sleep sack.

    January 20, 2008

  • That nursery rhyme is among the cruelest. Pardon a vegan mother, but hunting, milking, silk, and animal skin are the very last things I want to sing of to my babies. Mother Goose was a sicko. :(

    January 20, 2008

  • That's a little harsh, arcadia. I hardly think Treeseed meant to offend. :-)

    January 20, 2008

  • But Treeseed didn't write it so my critique isn't aimed at her. ...I like Treeseed, and Treeseed knows that. :)

    I'm just stickin' up for the critters, is all. MOST of these old nursery rhymes are violent and scary if you pay attention to the words. This one's no exception.

    January 20, 2008

  • The subtextual violence, scariness and ambiguity of traditional nursery rhymes (and, more so, fairy tales) is what makes them so good for kids.

    January 20, 2008

  • Well said, yarb. Until Walt and other bowlderizers got hold of them, the fairy-tale and nursery-rhyme canon was a pretty fearsome thing. But that's what made them good lessons, cautionary tales if you will, with plenty of text and subtext for kiddie and adult alike.

    January 21, 2008

  • I've always been a fan of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, personally.

    January 22, 2008

  • Yes! They are good. I'll have to get a copy.

    January 22, 2008