bounty

American  

[boun-tee] / ˈbaʊn ti /

noun

PLURAL

bounties

1. 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.

2. a generous gift.

   Synonyms:

   benefaction , present

3. generosity in giving.

   Synonyms:

   munificence , beneficence , charity , liberality

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bounty ¹ British  

/ ˈbaʊntɪ /

noun

1. generosity in giving to others; liberality

2. a generous gift; something freely provided

3. a payment made by a government, as, formerly, to a sailor on enlisting or to a soldier after a campaign

4. any reward or premium

   a bounty of 20p for every rat killed

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Bounty ² British  

/ ˈbaʊntɪ /

noun

1. a British naval ship commanded by Captain William Bligh, which was on a scientific voyage in 1789 between Tahiti and the West Indies when her crew mutinied

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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.

Related Words

See bonus.

Other Word Forms

• bountyless adjective

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

Example Sentences

Future Link wouldn’t have had to worry about the costs of launching a frivolous suit, being well covered by the bounty.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Summer,” in full bloom, offers bursts of pink and orange while a spectrum of greens sets the stage for the vernal bounty.

From The Wall Street Journal

A loyal servant of Iran’s proxy axis, active in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, Tabatabai had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head.

From The Wall Street Journal

According to the indictment, Wedding allegedly placed a multi-million dollar bounty on the witness — identified only as Victim A — who was later shot five times in the head while he was eating at a restaurant.

From Los Angeles Times

The politics are there in the armored vehicles rolling down city streets and the masked militias out to nab Ben for the bounty money.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• donation
• gift
• largess
• premium
• prize
• reward