bounty
noun
a premium or reward, especially one offered by a government.
Showing results for bounty.
Search instead for
Bounti.
bounty
American
[baun-tee]
/ ˈbaʊn ti /
noun
-
bounties
plural
-
a premium or reward, especially one offered by a government.
There was a bounty on his head. Some states offer a bounty for dead coyotes.
-
a generous gift.
- Synonyms:
- benefaction, present
-
generosity in giving.
- Synonyms:
- munificence, beneficence, charity, liberality
bounty
1
British
/ ˈbaʊntɪ /
noun
-
generosity in giving to others; liberality
-
a generous gift; something freely provided
-
a payment made by a government, as, formerly, to a sailor on enlisting or to a soldier after a campaign
-
any reward or premium
a bounty of 20p for every rat killed
Bounty
2
British
/ ˈbaʊntɪ /
noun
Usage
What does bounty mean? A bounty is a reward, especially one offered in an official way for the capture of someone or something. This sense of the word most often refers to the reward sought by bounty hunters for tracking down and capturing fugitive criminals (or, in older times, killing them). A more recent use of the word refers to the reward offered for identifying a software vulnerability in a company’s or organization’s system. In a broader sense, the word bounty means a generous gift or generosity in general. This sense of the word is most often used in a poetic way, such as referring to crops as the bounty of the land. The H. M. S. Bounty, the ship aboard which the notorious mutiny occurred, was probably named after this sense of the word. Example: The bounty offered for the capture of Billy the Kid was $500—dead or alive.
Synonym Usage
See bonus.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bounty
1200–50; Middle English b ( o ) unte < Anglo-French, Old French bonte, Old French bontet < Latin bonitāt- (stem of bonitās ) goodness. See boon 2, -ity
Explanation
If there is bounty on your table, it means you have a wide variety and large quantity of food. If there's a bounty on your head, it means the government has put out a reward for your capture. Bounty derives from the Latin bonus "good." Both meanings of bounty are connected with the idea of generosity, giving. A government known for its bounty will probably set a large bounty on the head of a murderer at large.
Vocabulary lists containing bounty
May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Gonzalez Urrutia went into exile after a bounty was placed on his head, while Machado stayed behind to lead the resistance.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
He was later captured in Puerto Vallarta by American bounty hunter and reality TV personality Duane “Dog” Chapman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
The team, to which OpenAI paid a $6,500 bounty, disclosed their work for the first time to The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Such weather extremes may have caused queens to abandon their nests or die, reducing the initial spring queen bounty to a more modest population.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Absolutely. These Nexus-6 types...they’d roll all over us and mash us flat. You and I, all the bounty hunters—we stand between the Nexus-6 and mankind, a barrier which keeps the two distinct. Furthermore—”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
“We’re on it, so don’t worry,” Dog the Bounty Hunter encouraged Walters in an online video.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
The portfolio of seven brands being sold includes Nature’s Bounty and Sisu supplements, Nestle said Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
"To date, CMDR's Bounty Project, which pays a financial reward to licensed commercial fishers for marine debris removal, has removed 84 tons of large, derelict fishing gear from the Pacific Ocean."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
Offerings include a BBQ Bounty Whopper packaged in a clamshell box shaped like the Mandalorian helmet and a blue cookie milkshake — a nod to Grogu’s favorite snack.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
“It was just an auto-reply. According to my messages, I received the first call-in from another hunter on location. Bounty goes to the first, no exceptions.”
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
He never saw protection of domestic manufacturing as a long-term policy but rather insisted that “continuance of bounties on manufactures long established must almost always be of questionable policy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The plant is supposed to reflect our resilience, our prickliness, our ability to thrive under punishing conditions and give bounties of good to those who know how to treat us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
Come dinnertime at 5 p.m., its menu shifts to family-style meals, featuring a large seafood lineup with bounties from its live fish tanks.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
A lone fisher or group of happy fishers would go to the ocean, a river or lake, then haul in endless bounties of aquatic creatures.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2024
By treating wheat strains with such “shock therapy,” Lysenko argued that he could make the plants flower more vigorously in the spring and yield higher bounties of grain through the summer.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
