punt

noun

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

   “Near-synonym: pontoon”

2. A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground.
3. (obsolete)A point in the game of faro.
4. (obsolete)The act of playing basset, baccarat, faro, etc.
5. A bet or wager.

   “Anyone up for a punt on Randwick?”

6. (Australia)Gambling, as a pastime, especially betting on horseraces or the dogs.

   “Did I actually back a winner and finish in front on the punt?”

   “Wishing you all happy new year and a prosperous one on the punt.”

7. A highly speculative investment or other commitment.

   ““Months ago, copper traders worldwide took a punt that Trump's tariff pitch for their market was real, not bluster.[…]””

8. A wild guess.
9. The indentation in the base of a wine bottle.
10. A thin glass rod which is temporarily attached to a larger piece in order to better manipulate the larger piece.
11. The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002.

verb

1. To propel a punt or similar craft by means of a pole.
2. Of a fish, to walk along the seafloor using its fins as limbs.
3. To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.

   “At the dump he emptied the station wagon quickly and only once punted a bag of refuse, exploding it like a pinata at a Mexican Christmas.”

   “He even hated pets—I once saw him punt a cat.”

4. (intransitive, transitive)To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.
5. To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.

   “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.”

6. (colloquial, intransitive)To equivocate and delay or put off (answering a question, addressing an issue, etc).

   “The briefer reported it had been terminated on orders from Secretary Schlesinger, but attributed this to a sense Shamrock produced little, not to the fact it had been discovered. The NSA briefer punted on whether Fort Meade had been reading Americans' private messages, ...”

   “The federal government has punted bringing forward extraordinary immigration powers that just weeks ago it was saying were so urgent they needed to be rushed through the parliament.”

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

   “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”

8. (colloquial, intransitive)To make the best choice from a set of non-ideal alternatives.
9. (colloquial, transitive)To eject; to kick out of a place.

   “The user is punted from the channel, and must rejoin to gain access.”

   “If you want to join this riot, we urge you to! You wont have to worry about being TOSed or reported because there will be no Guides online! So do whatever you want—punt, scroll, tos, just turn AOL into a war zone!”

10. To play basset, baccara, faro, etc.

    “Here it was that, guarded by double doors, Sir Francis smoked cigars, and read Bell’s Life in London, and went to sleep after dinner, when he was not smoking over the billiard-table at his clubs, or punting at the gambling-houses in Saint James’s.”

11. (Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK)To stake against the bank, to back a horse, to gamble or take a chance more generally

    “She heard […] of his punting at gaming tables.”

    “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’.”

    “Eriksson's men still worth a punt”

    “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”

12. (figuratively)To make a highly speculative investment or other commitment, or take a wild guess.

name

1. (historical)A former kingdom in the Horn of Africa, Africa, on the southern shore of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. A country contemporaneous with the Old Kingdom of Egypt, where frankincense, gold, ebony, ivory is found.