What does bunted mean?
"Bunted" is the past tense and past participle of the verb "bunt", a word best known from baseball. To bunt is to hold the bat loosely in the path of the pitch and let the ball rebound softly off it, rolling just a few feet into the infield; a batter who has done this has bunted. The tactic is usually deliberate and tactical — most famously the sacrifice bunt, where the hitter accepts being thrown out at first base to advance a teammate. Because the play trades personal glory for team advantage, "bunted" carries connotations of cunning, restraint, and self-sacrifice. The verb also has an older, rural sense meaning to push or butt with the head or horns, used of cattle and goats. The word's ultimate origin is uncertain, though it is often linked to Scandinavian dialect terms for pushing or striking. Outside sport and farmyard talk, the word sees little use, making "bunted" a distinctly specialised form.
verbBunted is the past tense and past participle of "bunt": in baseball, it means to deliberately tap the pitched ball softly with the bat without swinging, so that it rolls a short distance into the infield; more broadly, it can mean to push or strike with the head or horns.
- (in baseball) past tense of bunt: to tap the pitched ball gently with the bat rather than swing at it, so it travels a short distance into the infield
- (dialectal/livestock) past tense of bunt: to push or butt with the head or horns
"She squared around and bunted the ball down the third-base line to move the runner into scoring position."
"The manager signaled for the hit-and-run, but the batter bunted instead and caught the defence off guard."
"The young calf bunted against its mother's flank, nudging her toward the gate."
A bunt may be the only play in baseball where giving yourself up — getting thrown out at first — counts as a job well done.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bunted
The verb "bunt" emerged in American English in the mid-19th century alongside the game of baseball itself; the earliest uses refer to the soft, half-swinging hit that later became codified as the sacrifice bunt. Its deeper origin is uncertain, but lexicographers have commonly suggested derivation from a Northern European dialectal source — words such as Swedish "bunta" meaning to push, strike, or bump — which would also account for the older sense of an animal butting with its head or horns. It is not related to the fabric called bunting or to the bird of the same name.
Related word forms
How bunted is actually used
Almost entirely encountered as the inflected form of the verb "bunt"; its use is dominated by baseball contexts, where the sacrifice bunt is regarded as a selfless, tactical play. The livestock sense (a head-butt by cattle or goats) survives mainly in rural British and American dialect.
Easily confused with bunted
To punt is to kick a ball dropped from the hands (as in football), while to bunt is to tap a baseball lightly with the bat without swinging.