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Hunt vs Punt - What's the difference?

hunt | punt |

As a proper noun hunt

is for a hunter (for game, birds etc).

As a noun punt is

bridge.

hunt

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To chase down prey and (usually) kill it.
  • * Bible, Genesis xxvii. 5
    • Esau went to the field to hunt for venison.
  • * Tennyson
    • Like a dog, he hunts in dreams.
  • * 2010 , Backyard deer hunting: converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound (ISBN 1449084354), page 10:
    • State Wildlife Management Areas often offer licensed hunters the opportunity to hunt deer on public lands.
  • To try to find something; search.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • He after honour hunts , I after love.
  • * , chapter=1
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • * 2004 , Prill Boyle, Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women (ISBN 1578601541), page 119:
    • My idea of retirement was to hunt seashells, play golf, and do a lot of walking.
  • * 2011 , Ann Major, Nobody's Child (ISBN 1459271939):
    • What kind of woman came to an island and stayed there through a violent storm and then got up the next morning to hunt seashells? She had fine, delicate features with high cheekbones and the greenest eyes he'd ever seen.
    The police are hunting for evidence.
  • To drive; to chase; with down'', ''from'', ''away , etc.
    • to hunt down a criminal
    He was hunted from the parish.
  • To use or manage (dogs, horses, etc.) in hunting.
  • * Addison
    • He hunts a pack of dogs.
  • To use or traverse in pursuit of game.
    • He hunts the woods, or the country.

    Derived terms

    * hunt where the ducks are * that dog won't hunt

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of hunting.
  • A hunting expedition.
  • An organization devoted to hunting, or the people belonging to such an organization (capitalized if the name of a specific organization).

    • Derived terms

    * treasure hunt

    punt

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl), probably from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) A pontoon; a narrow shallow boat propelled by a pole.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (nautical) To propel a punt or similar craft by means of a pole.

    • Etymology 2

    Possibly a dialectal variant of (bunt); Rugby is the origin of the sports usage of the term.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (rugby, American football, Australian Rules football, Gaelic football, soccer) 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.
  • * As a colloquialism, 'So I punted' means the speaker chose the best alternative among a menu of non-ideal choices.
  • (soccer) To kick a bouncing ball far and high.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=September 2 , author= , title=Wales 2-1 Montenegro , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=With five minutes remaining Hennessey was down well to block another Vukcevic shot, while Gunter was smartly in to punt away the dangerous loose ball.}}
  • To retreat from one's objective.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=ca. 2002 , author=Ben Collins-Sussman, Brian W. Fitzpatrick and C. Michael Pilato , title=Version Control with Subversion , chapter=Basic Work Cycle citation , passage=Punting : Using svn revert¶ If you decide that you want to throw out your changes and start your edits again (whether this occurs after a conflict or anytime), just revert your changes}}
    Derived terms
    * drop punt * punt returner * punter * torpedo punt

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (rugby, American football, soccer) A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Contrast drop kick.

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) ponte or (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A point in the game of faro.
  • The act of playing at basset, baccara, faro, etc.
  • A bet or wager.
  • An indentation in the base of a wine bottle.
  • (glassblowing) A thin glass rod which is temporarily attached to a larger piece in order to better manipulate the larger piece.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (British, chiefly, Ireland) To stake against the bank, to back a horse, to gamble or take a chance more generally
  • * Thackeray
    • She heard of his punting at gaming tables.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=2004 , author=John Buglear , title=Quantitative methods for business: the A-Z of QM , chapter=Is it worth the risk? – introducing probability citation , isbn=9780750658980 , page=339 , passage=Whether you want to gamble on a horse race, bet on which player will score first in a game of football, have a punt on a particular tennis player winning a grand slam event, you are buying a chance, a chance which is measured in terms of probability, ‘the odds’.}}
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2006 , date=June 23 , author=Dan Roebuck , title=Eriksson's men still worth a punt , work=The Guardian citation , passage=Eriksson's men still worth a punt }}
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2009 , date=November 3 , author=Sarah Collerton , title=Cup punt not child's play , work=ABC News citation , passage=Australians have a reputation for being keen to bet on two flies climbing up a wall and today young ones often take a casual classroom punt }}
  • (figuratively) To make a highly speculative investment or other commitment, or take a wild guess.

    • Related terms

    * punter

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) punt, from (etyl) pund.

    Noun

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