flipper vs punt

flipper

noun
  • A type of ball bowled by a leg spin bowler, which spins backwards and skids off the pitch with a low bounce. 

  • Television remote control, clicker. 

  • A flat lever in a pinball machine, triggered by the player to strike the ball and keep it in play. 

  • A kind of false tooth, usually temporary. 

  • A small flat used to support a larger one. 

  • Someone who flips, in the sense of buying a house or other asset and selling it quickly for profit. 

  • Someone who flips in any other sense, for example throwing a coin. 

  • In marine mammals such as whales, a wide flat limb, adapted for swimming. 

  • A flat, wide, paddle-like rubber covering for the foot, used in swimming. 

  • A kitchen spatula. 

verb
  • To lift one or both flippers out of the water and slap the surface of the water. 

punt

noun
  • A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. 

  • A pontoon; a narrow shallow boat propelled by a pole. 

  • Gambling, as a pastime, especially betting on horseraces or the dogs. E.g anyone up for a punt on Randwick? 

  • A highly speculative investment or other commitment. 

  • A wild guess. 

  • A thin glass rod which is temporarily attached to a larger piece in order to better manipulate the larger piece. 

  • A bet or wager. 

  • The act of playing at basset, baccara, faro, etc. 

  • An indentation in the base of a wine bottle. 

  • A point in the game of faro. 

  • The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002. 

verb
  • To propel a punt or similar craft by means of a pole. 

  • To kick a bouncing ball far and high. 

  • To retreat from one's objective; to abandon an effort one still notionally supports. 

  • To equivocate and delay or put off (answering a question, addressing an issue, etc). 

  • To make the best choice from a set of non-ideal alternatives. 

  • To stake against the bank, to back a horse, to gamble or take a chance more generally 

  • To make a highly speculative investment or other commitment, or take a wild guess. 

  • To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance. 

  • Of a fish, to walk along the seafloor using its fins as limbs. 

  • To kick a ball dropped from the hands before it hits the ground. (This puts the ball farther from the goal across which the opposing team is attempting to score, so improves the chances of the team punting.) 

  • To play at basset, baccara, faro, etc. 

  • To eject; to kick out of a place. 

How often have the words flipper and punt occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )