punt

noun

/pʌnt/

Idioms

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a long shallow boat with a flat bottom and square ends which is moved by pushing the end of a long pole against the bottom of a riverTopics Transport by waterc2
(British English, informal) a bet
- The investment is little more than a punt.
(in rugby or American football) a long kick made after dropping the ball from your handsTopics Sports: ball and racket sportsc2
the former unit of money in the Republic of Ireland (replaced in 2002 by the euro)

Word Originnoun sense 1 Old English, from Latin ponto, denoting a flat-bottomed ferry boat; readopted in the early 16th cent. from Middle Low German punte or Middle Dutch ponte ‘ferry boat’, of the same origin. noun sense 3 mid 19th cent.: probably from dialect punt ‘push forcibly’. Compare with bunt.

Idioms

take/have a punt (British English, informal)

take/have a punt (on something/somebody) to choose something that involves some risk
- Our first impressions aren't great, but I'm willing to take a punt on it.
- Adventurous new investors might want to have a punt.
take/have a punt (at something/doing something) to try to do something
- He took a punt at explaining why he'd done it.

punt

verb

/pʌnt/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they punt	/pʌnt/ /pʌnt/
he / she / it punts	/pʌnts/ /pʌnts/
past simple punted	/ˈpʌntɪd/ /ˈpʌntɪd/
past participle punted	/ˈpʌntɪd/ /ˈpʌntɪd/
-ing form punting	/ˈpʌntɪŋ/ /ˈpʌntɪŋ/

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[intransitive, transitive] punt (something) (+ adv./prep.) to travel in a punt, especially for pleasure
- We spent the day punting on the river.
- to go punting
Topics Transport by waterc2
[transitive] punt something (+ adv./prep.) (in rugby or American football) to drop a ball from your hands and kick it before it reaches the ground
- I punted the ball upfield.

Word Originverb sense 1 Old English, from Latin ponto, denoting a flat-bottomed ferry boat; readopted in the early 16th cent. from Middle Low German punte or Middle Dutch ponte ‘ferry boat’, of the same origin. verb sense 2 mid 19th cent.: probably from dialect punt ‘push forcibly’. Compare with bunt.