Definition of pun Pun
/pʌˈn/ - [pun] - pun
We found 14 definitions of pun from 7 different sources.
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What does pun mean?
WordNet
NounPlural: puns |
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| pun - a humorous play on words; "I do it for the pun of it"; "his constant punning irritated her" | ||
| punning, wordplay, paronomasia | ||
| fun, sport, play activities that are enjoyable or amusing; "I do it for the fun of it"; "he is fun to have around" | ||
Verb |
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| pun - make a play on words; "Japanese like to pun--their language is well suited to punning" | ||
| jest, joke act in a funny or teasing way | ||
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Wiktionary 
Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘
- pun (v. t.)
To pound. - pun (n.)
A play on words which have the same sound but different meanings; an expression in which two different applications of a word present an odd or ludicrous idea; a kind of quibble or equivocation. - pun (v. i.)
To make puns, or a pun; to use a word in a double sense, especially when the contrast of ideas is ludicrous; to play upon words; to quibble. - pun (v. t.)
To persuade or affect by a pun.
OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω
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pun
A figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious.
Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕
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pun
pun, v.t. (Shak.) to pound. [Cf. Pound.] -
pun
pun, v.i. to play upon words similar in sound but different in meaning so as to produce a ludicrous idea:—pr.p. pun′ning; pa.t. and pa.p. punned.—n. a play upon words.—ns. Pun′nage, Pun′ning, the act or habit of punning. [Ety. dub.; prob. to beat words=pound, to beat, from A.S. punian, to pound.]
Wikipedia 
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(The last sentence is supposed to mean: “This was the way I used to speak before I got my false teeth”).
There is a joke about a man who sent ten different puns to friends in the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.
(The joke here is on “no pun intended” which is something people say when two words sound the same, but they were not trying to make a joke).
There are many websites and books which have jokes, very often with puns.
Puns are easier to make in some languages than others. Languages with many homophones (words which sound the same but have a different meaning) are most suitable for puns.
Puns do not have to be about homonyms. They can sometimes be about a literal use of the word and a metaphor (figurative use). For example, if a young man joins the Navy and someone says that he "sailed through his exams", this is a joke because: 1) the expression "to sail through something" means "to do it easily", but 2) the Navy is about sailing in ships. It is possible to say something like that without realizing that it is a pun.
Many British people love making puns, especially bad puns (where a word has to be mispronounced to make the joke work). Lewis Carroll made many puns in his books "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice through the Looking Glass".
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