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PlainSpell

punt

/pʌnt/noun, verb

punt is spelled P-U-N-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Punt, the name). As a noun, punt means “A narrow shallow boat, square at both ends, traditionally propelled by a pole” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of punt is punts.

How many letters and syllables are in punt?

Letters4: P-U-N-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is punt?

Punt appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Punt, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce punt?

  • /pʌnt/
  • /pʊnt/

As a verb (“To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance”): /pʌnt/.

As a noun (“The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland…”): /pʊnt/.

Punt has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-punt.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-punt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of punt

  • punts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • punting participle, present
  • punted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does punt mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A narrow shallow boat, square at both ends, traditionally propelled by a pole.

    Near-synonym: pontoon

  2. 2

    A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA point in the game of faro.

  4. 4

    obsoleteThe act of playing basset, baccarat, faro, etc.

  5. 5

    A bet or wager.

    Anyone up for a punt on Randwick?

  6. 6

    AustraliaGambling, as a pastime, especially betting on horseraces or the dogs.

  7. 7

    A highly speculative investment or other commitment.

  8. 8

    A wild guess.

  9. 9

    The indentation in the base of a wine bottle.

  10. 10

    A thin glass rod which is temporarily attached to a larger piece in order to better manipulate the larger piece.

  11. 11

    The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002.

verb

  1. 1

    To propel a punt or similar craft by means of a pole.

  2. 2

    Of a fish, to walk along the seafloor using its fins as limbs.

  3. 3

    To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.

  4. 4

    To kick a ball dropped from the hands before it hits the ground. (This puts the ball farther from the goal across which the opposing team is attempting to score, so improves the chances of the team punting.)

  5. 5

    To kick a bouncing ball far and high.

  6. 6

    colloquialTo equivocate and delay or put off (answering a question, addressing an issue, etc).

  7. 7

    To retreat from one's objective; to abandon an effort one still notionally supports.

  8. 8

    colloquialTo make the best choice from a set of non-ideal alternatives.

  9. 9

    colloquialTo eject; to kick out of a place.

  10. 10

    To play basset, baccara, faro, etc.

  11. 11

    AustraliaIrelandUKTo stake against the bank, to back a horse, to gamble or take a chance more generally

  12. 12

    To make a highly speculative investment or other commitment, or take a wild guess.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Punt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanStocherkahn (narrow shallow boat propelled by a pole), staaken, stochern (propel a punt with a pole)
Spanishbatea (narrow shallow boat propelled by a pole), patear al vuelo, volear podalmente (to kick a ball dropped from the hands before it…), patada al vuelo, voleo podal, volea podal (a kick made by a player who drops the ball and…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does punt come from?

From Old English punt, from Latin pontō (“Gaulish flat-bottomed boat, pontoon”), from pons (“bridge”); readopted from Middle Low German punte (“ferry boat”) or Middle Dutch ponte (“ferry boat”) of the same origin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after punt