noun

• (uncountable) Generosity; also (countable) an act of generosity.
  "[H]is [Henry I, Duke of Guise's] gifts, though conferred for the interest of his ambition, appeared always scattered with an easy bounty."
• (countable) Something given liberally; a gift.
  "[...] We have given and granted, and by theſe Preſents for Us, Our Heirs, and Succeſſors, do give and grant unto the ſaid Governors of the Bounty of Queen ANNE, for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the poor Clergy, hereby conſtituted, and their Succeſſors, all the Revenues of Firſt Fruits and yearly perpetual Tenths of all Dignities, Offices, Benefices, and Promotions Spiritual whatſoever, [...]"
• (countable) A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.
  "Let us therefore conſider ſeparately the encouraging of exportation of corn by bounties, the allowing it to be exported without any bounty, and the prohibiting it to be exported at all in certain caſes— [...] It is not for the ſake of the farmer, but for the good of the nation at large, that this bounty [for exporting corn] is granted. The idea is, that it is more adviſeable to have food raiſed at home, than to truſt to other countries for the neceſſaries of life; and the bounty is held out as a temptation to the farmer, to induce him to raiſe at leaſt a ſufficiency of corn."
• (countable) A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.
  "Whatever may be said in favor of bounties on the larger beasts of prey, those on hawks, owls, and the smaller fur-bearing animals can not be justified. Payments of this sort should cease, and laws should be enacted to protect species which careful investigations have shown to be mainly beneficial. [...] The payment of bounties on hawks of any kind is open to the objection that officials hardly ever discriminate between the harmful and the useful kinds, even when the statutes do so. [...] The bounty on owls is still more reprehensible, since owls are a more decided check to rodent increase."

verb

• (transitive) To offer a monetary reward for the capturing or killing of.