Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
  • intransitive verb To make puns or a pun.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To beat; strike with force; ram; pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder.
  • To make puns.
  • To affect by a pun.
  • noun A copper coin of Bengal, of the value of 80 cowries.
  • noun An abbreviation of puncheon.
  • noun An expression in which the use of a word in two different applications, or the use of two different words pronounced alike or nearly alike, presents an odd or ludicrous idea; a play on words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but differ in meaning; a kind of verbal quibble.
  • noun Synonyms Pun, Paronomasia, Assonance. Pun and paronomasia are often confounded, but are in strictness distinct in form and effect. A pun is a play upon two senses of the same word or sound, and its effect is to excite a sense of the ludicrous: as
  • noun Hence modern taste excludes puns from serious writing and speaking. Paronomasia is rather the use of words that are nearly but not quite alike in sound, and it heightens the effect of what is said withot suggesting the ludicrous: as, “Per angusta ad augusta”; “And catch with his surcease success,”
  • noun As in these examples, it is most likely to be used where the words thus near in sound are far apart in meaning. It is very common in the original languages of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, as in Isa. v. 7. An attempt to imitate it may be found in Mat. xxi. 41, revised version. Assonance is the bare fact of resemblance of sound, being generally accidental, and in the majority of cases disagreeable to the ear: as, unfold old truths, our power, if of, is as, and Andrew drew, the then condition. For the technical meaning of assonance, see def. 2 under that word.

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

  • transitive verb obsolete To pound.
  • noun A play on words which have the same sound but different meanings; an expression in which two different applications of a word present an odd or ludicrous idea; a kind of quibble or equivocation.
  • transitive verb To persuade or affect by a pun.
  • intransitive verb To make puns, or a pun; to use a word in a double sense, especially when the contrast of ideas is ludicrous; to play upon words; to quibble.

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

  • noun A joke or type of wordplay in which similar senses or sounds of two words or phrases, or different senses of the same word, are deliberately confused.
  • verb To make or tell a pun; make a play on words.
  • verb transitive To beat; strike with force; ram; pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder.

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

  • verb make a play on words
  • noun a humorous play on words

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From a special use of Etymology 1 pun ("to beat, bend (words)").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English *punen, from Old English punian, pūnian ("to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush, grind"), from Proto-Germanic *punōnan (“to break to pieces, pulverise”). More at pound.

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Examples

  • Or, Pouring Ketchup On An Over-cooked Campaign, or Ketchup Money to Help Campaign Catch Up, or some sort of bad pun involving Ketchup, money and catch up bonus points if you can also work "kvetch" into the pun*:Unlike Dean and Bush, Kerry said he will put his own money into the campaign, becoming the first Democrat in at least 20 years to do so.

    November 2003 ~ Angry Bear 2003

  • Or, Pouring Ketchup On An Over-cooked Campaign, or Ketchup Money to Help Campaign Catch Up, or some sort of bad pun involving Ketchup, money and catch up bonus points if you can also work "kvetch" into the pun*:Unlike Dean and Bush, Kerry said he will put his own money into the campaign, becoming the first Democrat in at least 20 years to do so.

    November 2003 ~ Angry Bear 2003

  • Or, Pouring Ketchup On An Over-cooked Campaign, or Ketchup Money to Help Campaign Catch Up, or some sort of bad pun involving Ketchup, money and catch up bonus points if you can also work "kvetch" into the pun*:Unlike Dean and Bush, Kerry said he will put his own money into the campaign, becoming the first Democrat in at least 20 years to do so.

    November 2003 ~ Angry Bear 2003

  • Or, Pouring Ketchup On An Over-cooked Campaign, or Ketchup Money to Help Campaign Catch Up, or some sort of bad pun involving Ketchup, money and catch up bonus points if you can also work "kvetch" into the pun*:Unlike Dean and Bush, Kerry said he will put his own money into the campaign, becoming the first Democrat in at least 20 years to do so.

    ~ Angry Bear 2003

  • No. Strict rules regarding the "bumping of uglys" (yes, a disgusting term, but it worked in the title pun, so I had to do it) did not inspire sufficiently pious disgust for human sexuality (read: women), so, in addition, one must hate one's very own privates.

    Scott Cheshire: Part II: The Good, The Bad, and Bumping Uglies -- Some Thoughts on Masturbation and The Good Book 2008

  • Hi Philip, I am so glad you could see it and also got the title pun, A++++ for you!

    Fall Frost Or Warm Hands Cold Heart « Fairegarden 2008

  • I would think part of the fun in producing a porno is that you get to create a title pun like The Hunt For Pink October or Rambone.

    A Movie Title That Doesn’t Beat Around The Bush | YepYep - Your Daily Waste Of Time 2008

  • (Fred accuses me here of a very bad pun, and reminds me, quite undeservedly, that the pun is the lowest form of humor.)

    The Window at the White Cat 1910

  • Best Estonian Short Story: Laur Craft, “Ultima Cthule” [sic, I believe the apparent pun is intended]

    British Fantasy Award Rules Changes sfawardswatch 2009

  • Literacy in my book, pardon the pun, is always at the top of the list when I have the time or the money to give.

    Literacy News – 102th Edition « News « Literacy News 2009

Comments

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  • Originally pundigrion

    March 7, 2007

  • Really? You are simply filled to the brim with useful tidbits, even eight months later.

    November 8, 2007

  • Why thank you, jennarenn. I've often been accused of that. ;->

    November 8, 2007

  • A pun does not a Teacher make

    An errant pronoun, pronounced mis-take

    The rogue becomes rouge

    The lips stick,

    And make-up work begins anew.

    The pun goes 'round,

    The spiral rises,

    A Teacher styles,

    The curls are permed,

    DNA, he says, are aptly termed.

    --anon (?)

    January 23, 2008

  • Say what now?

    January 23, 2008

  • I like my friends, like god gives my things, whether good honeymoon everyone can be my life wealth. Love your close relatives and friends, is really a good friendship, and beautiful. All in http://www.gagamatch.com

    July 8, 2011