bunt

UK: /bʌnt/ US: /bʌnt/ ,(bunt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bunt¹ /bʌnt/   v. 

1. Sport to tap (a pitched baseball) a short distance from home plate: [no object]
   He bunted at the first pitch.
   [~ + object]
   He managed to bunt the fastball.

n. [countable]

2. Sport
   • the act of bunting a baseball:
     a perfect bunt.
   • a bunted baseball:
     His bunt rolled a bit.

bunt•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bunt¹  (bunt), v.t. 

1. (of a goat or calf ) to push with the horns or head;
   butt.
2. Sport [Baseball.] to bat (a pitched ball) very gently so that it rolls into the infield close to home plate, usually by holding the bat loosely in hands spread apart and allowing the ball to bounce off it.

v.i. 

3. to push (something) with the horns or head.
4. Sport [Baseball.] to bunt a ball.

n. 

5. Animal Behavior a push with the head or horns;
   butt.
6. Sport [Baseball.]
   • the act of bunting.
   • a bunted ball.

• 1760–70; origin, originally Brit. dialect, dialectal (Central and south, southern England): push, strike; of obscure origin, originally

bunt′er, n. 

bunt²  (bunt), n. 

1. Nautical, Naval Terms the middle part of a square sail.
2. Nautical, Naval Terms the bagging part of a fishing net or bagging middle area of various cloth objects.

• origin, originally uncertain 1575–85

bunt³  (bunt), n. [Plant Pathol.]

1. Plant Diseases a smut disease of wheat in which the kernels are replaced by the black, foul-smelling spores of fungi of the genus Tilletia. Also called stinking smut. 

• 1595–1605; earlier, puffball; of uncertain origin, originally

bunt′ed, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bunt / bʌnt/ verb

1. (of an animal) to butt (something) with the head or horns
2. to cause (an aircraft) to fly in part of an inverted loop or (of an aircraft) to fly in such a loop
3. (in baseball) to hit (a pitched ball) very gently

noun

1. the act or an instance of bunting

Etymology: 19th Century: perhaps nasalized variant of butt³

bunt / bʌnt/ noun

1. the baggy centre of a fishing net or other piece of fabric, such as a square sail

Etymology: 16th Century: perhaps from Middle Low German bunt bundle

bunt / bʌnt/ noun

1. a disease of cereal plants caused by smut fungi (genus Tilletia)

Etymology: 17th Century: of unknown origin