- an open flat-bottomed boat with square ends, propelled by a pole
See quant1
- to propel (a boat, esp a punt) by pushing with a pole on the bottom of a river, etc
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
punt1 /pʌnt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
v.
punt2 /pʌnt/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Sporta kick, as in football or rugby, in which the ball is dropped and kicked before it touches the ground.
v.
- Sportto kick (a dropped ball) before it touches the ground: [~ + object]He punted the ball.[no object]ready to punt.
- Informal Termsto stall or delay while thinking up an answer:[no object]If they ask you for exact sales figures, you'll have to punt.
punt2 /pʌnt/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
- Naval Termsa small, shallow, flat-bottomed boat with square ends, propelled with a pole.
v.
- Naval Termsto pole (a small boat): [~ + object]He punted the boat along.[no object]They went out punting.
punt1
(punt),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
v.i.
punt′er, n.
punt2 (punt),USA pronunciation v.i.
n.
punt′er, n.
punt3 (pŏŏnt, punt),USA pronunciation n.
Punt (pŏŏnt),USA pronunciation n.
- Sport[Football.]a kick in which the ball is dropped and then kicked before it touches the ground. Cf. drop kick, place kick.
- Nautical, Naval Termsa small, shallow boat having a flat bottom and square ends, usually used for short outings on rivers or lakes and propelled by poling.
v.t.
- Sport[Football.]to kick (a dropped ball) before it touches the ground.
- Nautical, Naval Termsto propel (a small boat) by thrusting against the bottom of a lake or stream, esp. with a pole.
- Nautical, Naval Termsto convey in or as if in a punt.
v.i.
- Sportto punt a football.
- Nautical, Naval Termsto propel a boat by thrusting a pole against the bottom of a river, stream, or lake.
- Naval Termsto travel or have an outing in a punt.
- Informal Termsto equivocate or delay:If they ask you for exact sales figures, you'll have to punt.
- Latin pontō punt, pontoon1; sense "to kick a dropped ball'' perh. via sense "to propel (a boat) by shoving''
- bef. 1000; 1835–45 for def. 1; Old English: flat-bottomed boat (not attested in Middle English)
punt2 (punt),USA pronunciation v.i.
- Games[Cards.]to lay a stake against the bank, as at faro.
- Games, Slang Terms[Slang.]to gamble, esp. to bet on horse races or other sporting events.
n.
- Games[Cards.]a person who lays a stake against the bank.
- Spanish punto point
- French ponter, derivative of ponte punter, point in faro
- 1705–15
punt3 (pŏŏnt, punt),USA pronunciation n.
- Currencya monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland, equal to 100 pence;
Irish pound.
- English pound2
- Irish
- 1970–75
Punt (pŏŏnt),USA pronunciation n.
- Ancient History, Place Namesan ancient Egyptian name of an area not absolutely identified but believed to be Somaliland.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
punt /pʌnt/ n
punt /pʌnt/ n
- a kick in certain sports, such as rugby, in which the ball is released and kicked before it hits the ground
- any long high kick
- to kick (a ball, etc) using a punt
punt /pʌnt/ chiefly Brit vb
- (intransitive) to gamble; bet
- a gamble or bet, esp against the bank, as in roulette, or on horses
- Also called: punter a person who bets
- take a punt at ⇒ Austral NZ informal to have an attempt or try at (something)
punt /pʊnt/ n
- (formerly) the Irish pound
'punt' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
drop kick
- place kick
- pole
- pontoon
- pound
- quant
- back
- coffin corner
- kick
- pons
- quick kick
- spontoon