pun

[puhn]

noun

1. the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.

2. the word or phrase used in this way.

verb (used without object)

punned, punning 

1. to make puns.

pun

¹

/ pʌn /

noun

1. the use of words or phrases to exploit ambiguities and innuendoes in their meaning, usually for humorous effect; a play on words. An example is: "Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms: But a cannonball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms." (Thomas Hood)

verb

1. (intr) to make puns

pun

²

/ pʌn /

verb

1. (tr) to pack (earth, rubble, etc) by pounding

pun

1. A humorous substitution of words that are alike in sound but different in meaning (see double-entendre), as in this passage from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll:

   “And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.

   “Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle, “nine the next, and so on.”

   “What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice.

   “That's the reason they're called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked: “because they lessen from day to day.”

Other Word Forms

• punless adjective
• punner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pun¹

First recorded in 1655–65; perhaps special use of pun, variant (now dialectal) of pound ¹, in the sense “to mistreat (words)”

Word History and Origins

Origin of pun¹

C17: possibly from Italian puntiglio point of detail, wordplay; see _punctilio

Origin of pun²

C16: dialectal variant of _pound ¹

Example Sentences

The New York Times’ crossword is synonymous with its current editor, Will Shortz, who gave the puzzle a refresh in the 1990s, jettisoning academic jargon and obscurities in favor of layered puns and pop-culture references.

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This year’s rendition is filled with murderous red-eyed ravens up to no good, and in true Haunted Mansion fashion it has a pun for a name.

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“Perhaps Lady Constance will not be the only surprise to tumble out of the Ashton family ‘tree,’” she thought, unable to resist a leafy pun of her own.

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Chuckling that he likes his “bacon extra crispy” as he takes aim at a police squad, he also breaks the seal on this remake’s use of bad puns.

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Some groan-inducing puns aside, Rushdie’s comic touches are deftly managed, appearing as sharp satirical swipes or witty repartee.

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Related Words

• double entendre 
• joke 
• quip 

When To Use

What is a pun?

A pun is a humorous use of words with multiple meanings or words that sound similar but have different meanings, as in The gravekeeper buried the evidence under his desk.There are two ways to make a pun. The first involves using a word with more than one meaning to create humorous wordplay, as in The dentist put his assistants through some drills. A drill is both a tool a dentist uses and a training exercise.The second way is to use similar sounding words with different meanings to make humorous wordplay, as in The clown helped the children across the street. It was a kind jester. Here, jester, a type of clown, is used instead of the similar sounding gesture, meaning an action or a courtesy.