Definitions

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

  • noun An open flatbottom boat with squared ends, used in shallow waters and usually propelled by a long pole.
  • intransitive verb To propel (a boat) with a pole.
  • intransitive verb To carry in a punt.
  • intransitive verb To go in a punt.
  • noun The indentation in the bottom of a champagne or wine bottle.
  • intransitive verb Games To lay a bet against the bank, as in roulette.
  • intransitive verb Chiefly British Slang To gamble.
  • noun A kick in which the ball is dropped from the hands and kicked before it touches the ground.
  • intransitive verb To propel (a ball) by means of a punt.
  • intransitive verb To execute a punt.
  • intransitive verb Informal To cease doing something; give up.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A push or shove.
  • noun Same as punty, pontil.
  • noun In glass manufacturing Same as milen.
  • To convey in a punt: as, he was punted across tho river.
  • To propel as a punt is usually propelled, by pushing with a pole against the bed of the water; force along by pushing: as, to punt a boat.
  • In fool-ball, to kick, as the ball, when it is dropped from the hands, and before it touches the ground; give a punt to.
  • In general, to knock; hit.
  • To hunt for aquatic game in a punt and with a punt-gun (which see).
  • To play at basset or ombre.
  • noun A flat-bottomed, square-ended, mastless boat of varying size and use.
  • noun [⟨ punt, verb, 3.] In foot-ball, a kick of the ball as it is dropped from the hands and before it strikes the ground.
  • noun A point in the game of basset.

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

  • noun (Naut.) A flat-bottomed boat with square ends. It is adapted for use in shallow waters.
  • noun (Football) The act of punting the ball.
  • intransitive verb To boat or hunt in a punt.
  • intransitive verb To punt a football.
  • transitive verb To propel, as a boat in shallow water, by pushing with a pole against the bottom; to push or propel (anything) with exertion.
  • transitive verb (Football) To kick (the ball) before it touches the ground, when let fall from the hands.
  • intransitive verb To play at basset, baccara, faro. or omber; to gamble.
  • noun Act of playing at basset, baccara, faro, etc.

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

  • noun nautical A pontoon; a narrow shallow boat propelled by a pole.
  • verb nautical To propel a punt or similar craft by means of a pole.
  • verb rugby, American football, Australian Rules football, Gaelic football, soccer To kick a ball dropped from the hands before it hits the ground.
  • verb soccer To kick a bouncing ball far and high.
  • verb To retreat from one's objective.
  • noun rugby, American football, soccer A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Contrast drop kick.
  • noun A point in the game of faro.
  • noun A bet or wager
  • noun An indentation in the base of a wine bottle.
  • noun glassblowing A thin glass rod which is temporarily attached to a larger piece in order to better manipulate the larger piece.
  • verb UK To stake against the bank, to back a horse, to gamble or take a chance more generally
  • verb figuratively To make a highly speculative investment or other commitment, or take a wild guess.
  • noun The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002.

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

  • verb propel with a pole
  • verb place a bet on
  • noun formerly the basic unit of money in Ireland; equal to 100 pence
  • noun an open flat-bottomed boat used in shallow waters and propelled by a long pole
  • verb kick the ball
  • noun (football) a kick in which the football is dropped from the hands and kicked before it touches the ground

Etymologies

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

[Probably Middle English *punt, from Old English punt, from Latin pontō, pontoon, flatbottom boat, from pōns, pont-, bridge; see pent- in Indo-European roots.]

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

[Perhaps from punty.]

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

[French ponter, from obsolete pont, past participle of pondre, to put (obsolete), lay an egg, from Old French, to lay an egg, from Latin pōnere; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]

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

[Perhaps from dialectal punt, to strike, push, perhaps alteration of bunt.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English, probably from Latin ponto ("Gaulish flat-bottomed boat, pontoon"), from pons ("bridge")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Irish punt, from Middle English pund.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly a dialectal variant of bunt; Rugby is the origin of the sports usage of the term.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French ponte or Spanish punto ("point").

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Examples

Comments

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  • The hollow at the bottom of a wine bottle--also called a kick

    February 23, 2007

  • milen

    January 15, 2013