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 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.
  • To play at basset or ombre.
  • 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).
  • noun Same as punty, pontil.
  • noun A push or shove.
  • noun In glass manufacturing Same as milen.
  • noun A point in the game of basset.

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

  • noun Act of playing at basset, baccara, faro, etc.
  • intransitive verb To play at basset, baccara, faro. or omber; to gamble.
  • noun (Naut.) A flat-bottomed boat with square ends. It is adapted for use in shallow waters.
  • 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.
  • noun (Football) The act of punting the ball.
  • intransitive verb To boat or hunt in a punt.
  • intransitive verb To punt a football.

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.
  • noun The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002.
  • 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.

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