Pun Meaning
/pʌn/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo beat; strike with force; to ram; to pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder, to pulverize.
verbTo make or tell a pun; to make a play on words.
Sentence Examples
This is a pun.
What's your favorite pun?
Although it seems impossible to translate this pun, many people try!
CEFR Practice Quiz
The speaker used a ____ to make the audience laugh with a double meaning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The comedian's ____ on the word 'time' made the audience groan and laugh at the same time.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English ponnen, ponen, punen, from Old English punian, pūnian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush, grind”), from Proto-Germanic *punōną (“to break to pieces, pulverize”). See pound. As a kind of word play, from the notion of "beating" the words into place.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He would pun thee into shivers with his fist."
— c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
""Certainly, my home at my uncle's brought me acquainted with a circle of admirals. Of Rears, and Vices, I saw enough. Now do not be suspecting me of a pun, I entreat.""
— 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 124:
"Hackeries and carriages, loaded and empty, 8 annas. Sheep, goats, &c., 1 pun of cowries each."
— 1864, The Regulations of the Bengal Code in Force in September 1862, page 1019:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The speaker used a ____ to make the audience laugh with a double meaning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The comedian's ____ on the word 'time' made the audience groan and laugh at the same time.