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

JohnPaul LeCedre pressed Hipolito on his belief that the officers were bounty hunters even as they wore vests with the word “Police” on them.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Chandran's character Nefertari Vivi, a blue-haired bounty hunter with a secret in her past, is introduced to viewers in season two.

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026

The current list has around 400 more billionaires than the 2025 Forbes compilation, a bounty propelled by a stock market surge due partly to bullishness about AI.

From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026

In January, the makers of Curl software abandoned their own bug bounty program, citing “an explosion in AI slop reports.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

“I notice you’ve never had any hesitation as to spending the bounty money I bring home on whatever momentarily attracts your attention.”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Related Words

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