Meaning & use
bunt
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitivesport
In baseball, to tap the ball gently with the bat instead of swinging fully.
Grammar: Can be used with or without an object: bunt the ball / bunt to advance the runner.
Patterns
- bunt the ball
- bunt to advance a runner
- bunt someone over
The batter decided to bunt to move the runner to second base.
He bunted the ball down the third-base line for a hit.
She is good at bunting when the team needs a sacrifice.
nouncountablesport
A softly tapped hit in baseball, made by holding the bat still against the ball.
Grammar: Countable: a bunt, two bunts. Often used in phrases like 'sacrifice bunt'.
Patterns
- hit a bunt
- lay down a bunt
- sacrifice bunt
His bunt moved the runner to third base.
The coach called for a bunt to score the tying run.
She laid down a perfect bunt and reached first safely.
Word forms
| third person singular | bunts |
|---|---|
| past tense | bunted |
| past participle | bunted |
| -ing form | bunting |
| plural | bunts |
Common combinations
- sacrifice bunt
- He laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners.
- bunt the ball
- The batter bunted the ball toward first base.
- bunt for a hit
- She tried to bunt for a hit but the pitcher fielded it quickly.
- drag bunt
- A drag bunt can surprise the defense.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tap
- Tap is a general word for a light hit; bunt is specifically a baseball term for a soft hit with the bat held still.
Word family
Commonly confused: bunt or bunt?
bunt vs bunt
Not to be confused with 'bunt' meaning the bag-like part of a fishing net, which is a different, rare sense.
Practice
In baseball, what does it mean to bunt?
Choose one answer.
Bunting means tapping the ball gently with the bat held still, not swinging hard. Catching is fielding, and running is baserunning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bunt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.