Library / English Dictionary

STUNT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A difficult or unusual or dangerous feat; usually done to gain attention

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("stunt" is a kind of...):

effort; exploit; feat (a notable achievement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stunt"):

Russian roulette (a stunt in which you spin the cylinder of a revolver that is loaded with only one bullet and then point the muzzle at your head and pull the trigger)

acrobatic feat; acrobatic stunt (a stunt performed by an acrobat)

Derivation:

stunt (perform a stunt or stunts)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A creature (especially a whale) that has been prevented from attaining full growth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("stunt" is a kind of...):

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Derivation:

stunt (check the growth or development of)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perform a stunt or stunts

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "stunt" is one way to...):

do; execute; perform (carry out or perform an action)

Domain category:

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

stunt (a difficult or unusual or dangerous feat; usually done to gain attention)

stunting (the performance of stunts while in flight in an aircraft)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Check the growth or development of

Example:

You will stunt your growth by building all these muscles

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "stunt" is one way to...):

hinder; impede (be a hindrance or obstacle to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stunt"):

dwarf (check the growth of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

stunt (a creature (especially a whale) that has been prevented from attaining full growth)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The study found that the affordability of healthy and unhealthy foods was strongly associated with nutrition outcomes, including child stunting, and concluded that more research was needed on how to alter pricing to improve diets in both rich and poor countries.

(High cost of healthy food to blame for malnutrition, SciDev.Net)

He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz and between the numbers people were doing stunts all over the garden, while happy vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)