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, pun·ning.

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 , 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.”

Derived Forms

• ˈpunner, noun

Other Words From

• punless adjective

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

Lyrics from songs like “I’m a Slave 4 U,” “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” and “Stronger” were used as puns in headlines.

From The Daily Beast

Sorry for this inevitable pun, but there seems to be a sea-change in conservation underway.

From Nautilus

The phone booth and bookshelves and pantry are all shaped like honeycombs, and the walls are full of puns like Bee Kind.

From Time

Report from Week 540, in which we asked for news or historical events to be presented in the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” “A, or B” format of groaner puns or other halfwitticisms.

From Washington Post

This presents a risk to spectacular puns accompanied by unspectacular ones, so do your best.

From Washington Post

“There aren't any steaks involved, pardon the pun,” says Chin.

From The Daily Beast

A paper published this week illuminated (pun intended) the relationship between light and matter.

From The Daily Beast

Here's to hoping it's not illegal to make a terrible sex-related pun.

From The Daily Beast

Note the bawdy pun in the first example, by which the speaker implies that she came last night.

From The Daily Beast

But at least they "forge" (pun intended) the pieces by him that matter.

From The Daily Beast

He pounded out the pun ordinary by the dozen for the comic weeklies at fifty cents an item.

From Project Gutenberg

Win' ruffle up he ha'r, yit he aint move; sun shine down 'pun 'im, yit he aint move.

From Project Gutenberg

I explained that he probably intended a pun upon his name, which was Coleman.

From Project Gutenberg

"They ought to keep you there for an hour longer for that vile pun," said Cumberland.

From Project Gutenberg

I confess that I don't see why a good pun should be thrown aside after it has served as the soul of a single sentence.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• double entendre
• joke
• quip

More About Pun

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.

Why is pun important?

The first records of the term pun come from around 1655. It was possibly used as a variant of the word pound, meaning “to strike with great force.” The idea is that a person making a pun is intentionally mistreating words for comedy.

Not everyone finds puns particularly funny or clever. The terms dad joke and groaner are frequently used to refer to puns that are really obvious (corny) and not funny. Sometimes, the comedy is the fact that the pun itself is ridiculous or cringeworthy.

However, this occasional disapproval of puns hasn’t stopped them from being used in countless jokes and even the titles of movies and other works of popular culture, such as Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Shanghai Noon (2000).

Did you know … ?

In 2011, the Academy Award for Best Picture was given to a film with a clever pun for its title, The King’s Speech. The title refers to the fact that the film is both about King George VI overcoming his stutter (his speech) and the declaration he had to deliver over the radio during World War II (also his speech).

What are real-life examples of pun?

This video shows a collection of (bad) puns used by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1997 superhero film Batman and Robin.

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Many people use puns to make jokes. Results may vary.

My humor is equivalent to Carlos from Magic School Bus. Blame my bad puns on his influence…

— Kirby Kelly (@kirbyisaboss) April 27, 2015

How many puns, is too many puns, for one 30 minute newscast? Asking for me.

— Mark Taylor (@MarkTaylor) September 27, 2019

What other words are related to pun?

• wordplay
• humor
• joke
• play on words
• double entendre

Quiz yourself!

Is the following sentence an example of a pun?

The farmer tried to guard his chickens from predators but he was constantly outfoxed.