I .
/ pʌnt; NAmE / noun , verb
—see also punt (II)
■ noun
1.
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 river
2.
( BrE , informal ) a bet :
The investment is little more than a punt.
3.
( in rugby or American football ) a long kick made after dropping the ball from your hands
■ verb
1.
to travel in a punt , especially for pleasure :
[ v ]
We spent the day punting on the river.
to go punting
[also vn ]
2.
[ vn ] to kick a ball hard so that it goes a long way, sometimes after it has dropped from your hands and before it reaches the ground
II .
/ pʊnt; NAmE / noun
the former unit of money in the Republic of Ireland (replaced in 2002 by the euro)
—see also punt (I)
••
WORD ORIGIN
I . noun sense 1 and verb 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 and noun sense 3 mid 19th cent.: probably from dialect punt push forcibly . Compare with bunt . noun sense 2 early 18th cent.: from French ponte player against the bank, from Spanish punto a point.
II . Irish , literally pound .