Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PUMP'ER, n.

The person or the instrument that pumps.

PUMP'-GEAR, n.

The materials for fitting and repairing pumps. – Mar. Dict.

PUMP'-HOOD, n.

A semi-cylindrical frame of wood, covering the upper wheel of a chain-pump.

PUMP'ING, ppr.

1. Raising by a pump.
2. adj. Drawing out secrets by artful questions.

PUMP'ION, n. [D. pompoen, Sw. pomp, a gourd.]

A plant and its fruit, of the genus Cucurbita.

PUMP'KIN, n.

A pompion. [This is the common orthography of the word in the United States.]

PUMP'-SPEAR, n.

The bar to which the upper box of a pump is fastened, and which is attached to the brake or handle. – Mar. Dict.

PUN, n. [W. pun. equal.]

An expression in which a word has at once different meanings; an expression in which two different applications of a word present an odd or ludicrous idea; a kind of quibble or equivocation; a low species of wit. Thus a man who had a tall wife named Experience, observed that he had, by long experience, proved the blessings of a married life. A pun can be no more engraven, than it can be translated. – Addison.

PUN, v.i.

To quibble; to use the same word at once in different senses. – Dryden.

PUN, v.t.

To persuade by a pun. – Addison.

PUNCH, n.¹ [W. pwnc, a point; Arm. poençonn; Fr. poinçon; Sp. punzon; L. punctum, pungo.]

An instrument of iron or steel, used in several arts for perforating holes in plates of metal, and so contrived as to cut out a piece.

PUNCH, n.² [Sp. ponche; D. pons; G. punsch; Dan. pons, ponsh.]

A drink composed of water sweetened with sugar, with a mixture of lemon juice and spirit. – Encyc. Swift

PUNCH, n.³

The buffoon or harlequin of a puppet-show. [See Punchinello.]

PUNCH, n.⁴

1. A well set horse with a short back, thin shoulders, broad neck, and well covered with flesh. – Far. Dict.
2. A short fat fellow.

PUNCH, v.t. [Sp. punzar; W. pynciaw; L. pungo. In this word, n is probably casual, and the root is Pg, of the same family as peg, pack or pike, with the primary sense of driving or thrusting, a point.]

1. To perforate with an iron instrument, either pointed or not; as, to punch a hole in a plate of metal. – Wiseman.
2. In popular usage, to thrust against with something obtuse; as, to punch one with the elbow.

PUNCH-BOWL, n.

A bowl in which punch is made, or from which it is drank.

PUNCH'ED, pp.

Perforated with a punch.

PUNCH'EON, n. [Fr. poinçon, a bodkin, a puncheon.]

1. A small piece of steel, on the end of which is engraved a figure or letter, creux or relievo, with which impressions are stamped on metal or other substance; used in coinage, in forming the matrices of types, and in various arts. – Encyc.
2. In carpentry, a piece of timber placed upright between two posts, whose hearing is too great; also, a piece of timber set upright under the ridge of a building, wherein the legs of a couple, &c. are jointed. – Encyc.
3. A measure of liquids, or a cask containing usually 120 gallons. Rum or spirits is imported from the West Indies in puncheons, but these are often called also hogsheads.

PUNCH'ER, n.

1. One that punches.
2. A punch or perforating instrument.

PUN-CHI-NEL'LO, n.

A punch; a buffoon. – Tatler.

PUNCH'ING, ppr.

Perforating with a punch; driving against.

PUNCH'Y, a.

Short and thick, or fat.

PUNC'TATE, or PUNC'TA-TED, a. [L. punctus, pungo.]

1. Pointed.
2. In botany, having dots scattered over the surface. – Martyn.

PUNC'TI-FORM, a. [L. punctum, point, and form.]

Having the form of a point. – Ed. Encyc.

PUNC-TIL'IO, n. [Sp. puntilla; It. puntiglio; from L. punctum, a point.]

A nice point of exactness in conduct, ceremony or proceeding; particularity or exactness in forms; as, the punctilios of a public ceremony. – Addison.