From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstuntstunt1 /stʌnt/ noun [countable] 1 DANGEROUSa dangerous action that is done to entertain people, especially in a film Not many actors do their own stunts. a stunt flying show2 ATTENTIONsomething that is done to attract people’s attention, especially in advertising or politics Todd flew over the city in a hot-air balloon as a publicity stunt.3 → pull a stunt
Examples from the Corpus
stunt• Lockiear was the first pilot to do aerial stunts for the movies.• That same year, a minor tragedy occurred during a pre-game stunt.• A goofy stunt for February sweeps?• He also knew the value of goofy legal stunts.• She was more concerned by the attitude of the authorities on both sides of the river, who wanted no more stunts.• The hunger strike is thought to be just another political stunt.• But Moore freely admits he has no stomach for the stunts.• The stunt took two years to perfect, and the team used a series of remote cameras to film every breath-taking second.• The stunt was enacted in the grounds of Longleat House, home of the Marquis of Bath.do ... stunts• And not just movie actors who can do stunts.publicity stunt• Unionist politicians accused him of naivety and dismissed the truce as a publicity stunt.• It could be a publicity stunt gone wrong.• It's a publicity stunt to gain sympathy.• Now that times are tougher, such costly publicity stunts are harder to justify.• At his most impressionable, Nicholas allowed himself to be talked into publicity stunts that horribly backfired.• A statement from the heart or a mere publicity stunt?• He overrode negative reviews with publicity stunts.stuntstunt2 verb [transitive] STOP something THAT IS HAPPENINGto stop something or someone from growing to their full size or developing properly Lack of sunlight will stunt the plant’s growth.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
stunt• I refused to fly alone until I knew some stunting.• Slow economic growth stunted corporate profits last quarter.• The Parmenters lived in a stunted frame house at the edge of a brick sidewalk in Georgetown.From Longman Business Dictionarystuntstunt /stʌnt/ noun [countable] disapprovingMARKETING something that is done to attract people’s attention to a product or companyThe companies turned the event into a publicity stunt.They deliberately created a controversial commercial as a stunt to get free publicity.Origin stunt1 (1800-1900) Perhaps from stump “something risky which someone has persuaded you to do” stunt2 (1600-1700) stunt “rude, stunted” ((16-19 centuries)), probably from a Scandinavian language 