# stun

Pronunciation: US say "STUN" /stʌn/; UK

## Verb

1. To shock or surprise someone so greatly that they are briefly unable to react.
   - Simple: To surprise or shock someone so much that they cannot react for a moment.
   - _The verdict stunned the courtroom into silence._
   - _Her decision to resign will stun her colleagues._
2. To incapacitate a person or animal, especially by causing disorientation or unconsciousness.
   - Simple: To hit or shock someone so hard that they cannot move or think clearly.
   - _The fall stunned the bird, but it soon recovered and flew off._
   - _Police officers carry devices designed to stun rather than injure a suspect._
5. Of a video game character: to enter a dazed state and become temporarily unable to move or act.
   - Simple: In video games, to become unable to move or act for a short time.
   - _Bosses in this game stun whenever their shield meter runs out._
   - _Her fighter stunned mid-combo, leaving an opening for the opponent._
8. In cue sports, to hit the cue ball so it slides with no topspin or backspin, then leaves the object ball at the natural angle.
   - Simple: In pool, to hit the white ball flat so it slides without spinning.
   - _Players often stun the cue ball to leave it close to where the object ball stood._
   - _She stunned the cue ball into the red and stayed perfectly placed for the next shot._
10. To punish an unsuspecting soldier for leaving equipment unguarded by taking it away. *(slang, Singapore)*
   - Simple: In army slang, to take a soldier's gear when they leave it unwatched, to teach them a lesson.
   - _A corporal stunned two helmets left outside the mess tent during the exercise._
   - _Instructors will stun any weapon found leaning unattended against a wall._

## Noun

3. Something that stuns, such as a sudden shock or a stupefying blow.
   - Simple: A hard hit or a big shock that leaves you unable to think for a moment.
   - _He staggered from the stun of the blow and grabbed the railing._
   - _The stun of her sudden resignation hung over the office for days._
4. The condition of being dazed or briefly unable to act after a blow or shock.
   - Simple: The state of not being able to think or move after a hit or shock.
   - _The boxer's stun lasted just long enough for his opponent to land another punch._
   - _Even after the alarms stopped, a kind of stun kept the survivors silent._
6. In science fiction, a low setting on an energy weapon that knocks its target out without injuring or killing it.
   - Simple: In science fiction, a weapon setting that knocks a person out without really hurting them.
   - _The officers kept their phasers on stun throughout the boarding._
   - _Switching from stun to a lethal setting required the commander's override code._
7. In billiards, snooker, and pool, the effect on the cue ball when it is struck without topspin, backspin, or sidespin.
   - Simple: In pool and snooker, the way the white ball moves when you hit it with no spin at all.
   - _He played the shot with stun so the cue ball stopped dead on contact._
   - _A touch of stun kept the cue ball from following the red into the pocket._
9. A person who lacks intelligence; a dimwit. *(dialectal, Newfoundland)*
   - Simple: A person who is not smart or who thinks slowly.
   - _Only a stun would leave the gate open with the dog in the yard._
   - _Don't be such a stun. Check the schedule before you drive all the way out there._

## Origin

This word was inherited from Middle English stonen ("to astonish, stun, numb"), probably from Anglo-Norman estoner and Late Latin *stunāre, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to thunder, crash" or perhaps a Latin form meaning "to thunder out." An alternative account traces it to Old English stunian ("to smash, thunder"). It is related to astonish and astound.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stun (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).