pun

«pun» in Mova's school dictionary: a joke that uses a word with two meanings, or words that… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a pun, puns); verb (pun, puns, punned, punning)

meaning for a pupil

1) A pun is a joke that uses a word with two meanings, or words that sound the same, to be funny. tree →

2) To pun means to make such a joke. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English lessons, puns are a kind of wordplay used in jokes, riddles, headlines and poems. They often use homophones (flour/flower) or double meanings. Phrases: «no pun intended», «pun intended». People often groan at bad puns.

examples

• I'm reading a book about anti-gravity — it's impossible to put down. That's a pun! tree →
• «Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana» is a famous pun. tree →
• Dad tells terrible puns at dinner. tree →
• The headline used a pun on «sole» and «soul». tree →
• Why can't a bicycle stand up? Because it's two-tyred — a pun on «tired». tree →
• We wrote our own puns in English class. tree →

note

Past: punned, punning (double n). Puns need two meanings or two similar sounds; spot both to «get» the joke.

In the corpora

• «Well in» is a pun: the sisters are in the well, and «well in» also means deep inside.
• Puns usually depend on sounds or double meanings in one language, so when translated the double meaning disappears.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «pun» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.