subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A play upon words, similar in sound but different in meaning: also as verb.—B. E. (c. 1696).
2. (Harrow school).—Punishment. Hence PUN-PAPER = specially ruled paper for PUNS and impositions.
TO PUN OUT, verb. phr. (Christ’s Hospital).—To inform against: e.g., ‘I’ll PUN OUT’; ‘I’ll PUN you OUT’: exclusively a London expression; at Hertford, TO PUN or PUN OF.
