stun
/stʌn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.37 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To hit the cue ball so that it slides without topspin or backspin (and with or without sidespin) and continues at a natural angle after contact with the object ball
verb
To confiscate (an unguarded rifle, magazine, piece of equipment, etc.) from an unsuspecting soldier as punishment for neglect.
Slang
Example Sentences
- "Bill tried to stun the snake by striking it on the head."
- "In many European countries cattle have to be stunned before slaughtering."
- "The celebrity was stunned to find herself confronted with unfounded allegations on the front page of a newspaper."
- "He stood there stunned, looking at the beautiful, breath-taking sunrise."
- "The monsters stun when you jump on them."
- "Williams will need a lot of stun to avoid going in the middle pocket"
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound. Compare Swedish stöna (“to moan, groan”), Danish stønne (“to moan, groan”), Icelandic stynja (“to moan”), Occitan estonar (“to surprise”), and French étonner (“to surprise”), and more distantly, Dutch steunen (“to groan; support”), German stöhnen (“to groan, moan”), German staunen (“to be astonished, be amazed, marvel at”), and Russian стонать (stonatʹ), стена́ть (stenátʹ, “to moan, groan”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
stuns (present, singular)
stunning (participle, present)
stunned (participle, past)
stunned (past)
stin (alternative, Devon)
stuns (plural)