Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pun; a play on words.

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

  • noun A pun.

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

  • noun A pun.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named for a character in German folk tales.

Support

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Examples

  • He was most capital company, rolling out perpetual jokes and _calembour_, and bubbling over with exuberant _joie de vivre_.

    Here, There and Everywhere Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1892

  • a clumsy thing compared to the finesse of a neatly-turned French calembour.

    The Days Before Yesterday Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1892

Comments

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  • Mercutio was funny and ribald

    Till stilled by the sinister Tybalt.

    A wit's end for sure,

    To spew calembour

    As enemies fatally quibbled.

    March 19, 2016