THE FIRST WORD

pungle

PRONUNCIATION:

(PUNG-uhl) 

MEANING:

verb tr.: To make a payment; to shell out.

ETYMOLOGY:

Alteration of Spanish póngale (put it down), from poner (to put), from Latin ponere (to put). Ultimately from the Indo-European root apo- (off or away) that is also the source of after, off, awkward, post, puny, apposite, apropos, and dispositive. Earliest documented use: 1851.

USAGE:

"Congress pungled up $700 billion for a bailout."
Steve Rubenstein; 2008 in Review; San Francisco Chronicle; Dec 30, 2008.