STUNT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stunt mean? 

• STUNT (noun)
  The noun STUNT has 2 senses:

1. a difficult or unusual or dangerous feat; usually done to gain attention

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

  Familiarity information: STUNT used as a noun is rare.

• STUNT (verb)
  The verb STUNT has 2 senses:

1. check the growth or development of

2. perform a stunt or stunts

  Familiarity information: STUNT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STUNT (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)

• STUNT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they stunt    ... he / she / it stunts   
Past simple: stunted   
Past participle: stunted   
-ing form: stunting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Check the growth or development of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

You will stunt your growth by building all these muscles

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)

Sense 2

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)

 Context examples 

In which case, our Sun would have gathered the lion's share of dust and gas it seems, leaving its twin dark and stunted.

(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The fact is that air pollution is stunting our brains, even before we are born," said Drisse.

(WAir Pollution a Health Risk for Children, Lisa Schlein/VOA)

Relative dairy and egg prices are strongly associated with international variation in stunting rates, consistent with an extensive literature linking dairy consumption to linear growth in young children.

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

YOU, who from his cradle reared him to be what he was, and stunted what he should have been!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A disorder, wherein unstable chromosomes have a tendency to break and become rearranged, characterized by microcephaly, stunted growth, subnormal mental development, cafe-au-lait spots, and immunodeficiency.

(Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

For example, it stunted the growth and branching of cell extensions and reduced the number of spines on these extensions, which are needed to relay chemical signals from neighboring cells into electrical impulses.

(Schizophrenia risk gene linked to cognitive deficits in mice, National Institutes of Health)

This means that in case you assumed that your rise upwards might have been stunted by the new moon of October 27 (something that might have crossed your mind if you work for others and are not planning to make a radical career switch), then you will be cheered by this news.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Even at that moment of tension I found time for amazement at the discovery that he was quite a short man, his head not higher than my shoulder—a stunted Hercules whose tremendous vitality had all run to depth, breadth, and brain.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With my hair cut and a few other superficial changes I shall no doubt reappear at Claridge’s to-morrow as I was before this American stunt—I beg your pardon, Watson, my well of English seems to be permanently defiled—before this American job came my way.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Derek Headey, the study’s lead author and a senior research scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute, United States, said: There are about two billion people with micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia, and several hundred million very young and vulnerable children suffering from stunted growth globally.

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