Word.ws English Dictionary

punch

/pʌnt͡ʃ/

punch noun: a hit or strike with one's fist. Also the ellipsis of punch above one's weight.

Noun (1)

punch (countable and uncountable, plural punches)

  1. (countable) A hit or strike with one's fist.
    • Another Karadeniz cross led to Cudicini's first save of the night, with the Spurs keeper making up for a weak punch by brilliantly pushing away Christian Noboa's snap-shot.2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 14 May 2020
  2. (countable, rare) A blow from something other than the fist.
    • For in Tashbaan there is only one traffic regulation, which is that everyone who is less important has to get out of the way for everyone who is more important; unless you want a cut from a whip or a punch from the butt end of a spear.1954, C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy
  3. (uncountable) Power, strength, energy.
    • The tornado is finally losing its punch.
    • Nixon inadvertently took most of the punch out of the Red Scare by trekking to Peking and Moscow.1978 April 22, Harry Seng, “Gore Vidal: Adjutant to the Gay Camp”, in Gay Community News, page 11
    Synonyms:
    oomph, pep
  4. (uncountable) Impact.
    • Has your ad copy plenty of punch?1930, “Instructions in Sound”, in Moving Picture Review & Theatre Management, volume 25, Exhibitors Trade Review Publishing, page 40

Verb (1)

punch (third-person singular simple present punches, present participle punching, simple past and past participle punched)

  1. (transitive) To strike with one's fist.
    • If she punches me, I'm gonna break her nose.
    Synonyms:
    box, slug, clock
  2. (transitive) To herd.
  3. (transitive) To operate (a device or system) by depressing a button, key, bar, or pedal, or by similar means.
    • As night watchman he was required to punch a watchman's clock; the stations were scattered all over the place.1922, William Otis Badger, editor, The Workmen's compensation law journal, volume 10, page 129
    • The patrol clock and punch key system made sure that crewmen completed their patrols. At the far end of his patrol, he used a key to punch his clock and start the return trip.2000, William D. Peterson, United States Life-Saving Service in Michigan, page 106
  4. (transitive) To enter (information) on a device or system.
  5. (transitive) To hit (a ball or similar object) with less than full force.
    • He punched a hit into shallow left field.
  6. (transitive) To make holes in something (rail ticket, leather belt, etc) (see also the verb under Etymology 2).
    • So I punched a hole in the roof, ah-ah, ah-ah
      Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you2014 October 27, Taylor Swift, Imogen Heap, “Clean (Taylor's Version)”, in 1989 (Taylor's Version), performed by Taylor Swift, published 27 October 2023
  7. To thrust against; to poke.
    • to punch one with the end of a stick or the elbow
  8. (transitive) To perform pigeage: to stamp down grape skins that float to the surface during fermentation.
  9. (transitive) To emphasize; to give emphasis to.
    • Getting a little tired of you punching that word.
  10. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To light marijuana in a bong.
    • We're gonna punch a few cones.

Noun (2)

punch (plural punches)

  1. (countable) A device, generally slender and round, used for creating holes in thin material, for driving an object through a hole in a containing object, or to stamp or emboss a mark or design on a surface.
    1. (countable) A mechanism for punching holes in paper or other thin material.
  2. (countable) A hole or opening created with a punch.
  3. An extension piece applied to the top of a pile; a dolly.
  4. A prop, as for the roof of a mine.

Verb (2)

punch (third-person singular simple present punches, present participle punching, simple past and past participle punched)

  1. To employ a punch to create a hole in or stamp or emboss a mark on something.
  2. To mark a ticket.
    • The guard performs athletic feats in jumping from coach to coach while the train is in motion, taking orders for tickets, punching them on a bell punch in his van, and then returning to distribute them to passengers.1950 December, R. C. J. Day and R. K. Kirkland, “The Kelvedon & Tollesbury Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 842

Noun (3)

punch (usually uncountable, plural punches)

  1. (usually) A beverage, generally containing a mixture of fruit juice and some other beverage, often alcoholic.
    • Then the boiling water was brought in, and such a jug of whiskey punch as was made! Take my word for it, - it did not, like honest Robin Craig's, require to be hung out on the bush to let the water drain out of it.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 540

Noun (4)

punch (plural punches)

  1. Any of various riodinid butterflies of the genus Dodona of Asia.

Noun (5)

punch (plural punches)

  1. (archaic, regional) A short fat person.
    • Here I did make the workmen drink, and saw my coach cleaned and oyled; and, staying among poor people there in the alley, did hear them call their fat child Punch, which pleased me mightily, that word being become a word of common use for all that is thick and short.[1669 May 9 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “April 30th, 1669”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VIII, London...
    • The company at the maſquerade on May 13, at the Pantheon, was not ſo numerous as uſual. However, there were ſome very good dreſſes, and the characters well ſupported; in particular a punch, who afforded great entertainment.1774 May, “Masquerade Intelligence”, in The Covent-Garden Magazine; or, Amorous Repository: […], volume III, London: […] [F]or the Authors; and sold by G. Allen, […], →OCLC, page 182, column 2

Adjective

punch (comparative more punch, superlative most punch)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Short and thickset.
    • Taken away from two Grooms on Monday the 16th inſtant, in the great Road that leads to Epping from London in Epping-Foreſt, a little gray punch Stoned Horſe, hath all his paces, thorn mane, bob tailed, marked with I. S. on the near ſhoulder, about 14 hands.1679 June 19–23, The London Gazette, number 1418, London: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb […], →OCLC, page [2], column 2
    • They are generally very much prejudiced in favour of their own Race, whoſe Beauty they think conſiſts in having little Eyes ſunk deep in the Head, black thick Brows, a large flat Noſe and Face, and a ſhort punch Shape, eſpecially for the Women; […]1723, A[ubry] De La Mottraye, “A Journey into Akerman-Ozakovian-Crim- and Noghaian-Tartaries, Circassia, &c.”, in A. De La Motraye’s Travels through Europe, Asia, and into Part of Africa; […], volume...

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Punch

Punch

  1. (UK) A glove puppet who is the main character used in a Punch and Judy show.
  2. Any butterfly of genus Dodona.
  3. A settlement on Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands.
  4. A former British satirical magazine, which took its name from the puppet.
    • Any study of the railway scene around 1850 should not neglect the files of Punch. Mr. Punch was full of prejudices, it is true, but he frequently reflected (more or less fairly) the feelings of a great many people about the railways.1960 March, N. Caplan, “The Railway Member of Parliament”, in Railway Magazine, page 207
  5. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Suffolk Punch (“breed of horse”).

Noun (6) capitalized: Punch

Punch (plural Punches)

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Suffolk Punch (“a horse of that breed”).
    • ‘And the Punches,’ said William. ‘There’s cattle! A Suffolk Punch, when he’s a good un, is worth his weight in gold. Did you ever breed any Suffolk Punches yourself, sir?’1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC
  2. A butterfly of the genus Dodona.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Punch

Punch (plural Punches)

  1. A surname.

Also used as

punch is also the ellipsis of punch above one's weight.

punch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali

punch in Hindi

मुक्का मारना, मुक्का मारो, घूंसे मारना

punch in Tamil

to strike something or someone with one's fist
குத்து kuttu

punch in Marathi

ठोसा मारणे

punch in Bengali

a hit or a strike with one's fist
ঘুষি ghuśi
impact
সংঘর্ষ śoṅghorśo
More languagesFewer languages
punch in Telugu
పంచ్, పంచ్ చేయండి, పంచ్ చేయడానికి
punch in Malayalam
പഞ്ച്, പഞ്ച് ചെയ്യുക
punch in Kannada
ಪಂಚ್, ಪಂಚ್ ಮಾಡಿ, ಗುದ್ದಲು
punch in Punjabi
ਪੰਚ, ਪੰਚ ਕਰੋ, ਪੰਚ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
punch in Gujarati
મુક્કો મારવો
punch in Nepali
मुक्का हान्नु mukkā hānnu
punch in Tagalog
suntok, sumuntok, suntukin
punch in Arabic
لَكْمَة lakma, خَرَّامَة ḵarrāma, لَكَمَ lakama
punch in Malay
tumbukan, tinju
punch in Indonesian
pukulan, pukul
punch in Thai
หมัด màt, เจาะ jɔ̀, ชก chók, ต่อย dtɔ̀i
punch in Vietnamese
cú đấm, đấm
Kashmiri
مُش muś

Examples of punch in a sentence

  • Another shipmate remembered the watch clock on the strap we had to carry to punching stations.2007, Dick Juge, The Historic Northwest Passage and the CGC Storis, page 27:
  • He has acquired the cognomen of “Punch on a Pig.”c. 1809, William Wheeler, edited by B[asil] H[enry] Liddell Hart, The Letters of Private Wheeler, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company...
  • Now the effigies makes Robert to have been a juvenile figure of the best height, 5 f. 10 inch.; taller or shorter men being generally ill-made, knock-kneed, or Punches.1836 January 10, T[homas] D[udley] Fosbroke, “[Monument of Robert [Curthose] Duke of Normandy]”, in The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume V (New...

All 40 example sentences with punch

Synonyms of punch

All synonyms of punch

Forms of punch

Noun
pluralpunches
alternative formpunce
alternative formpince
pluralPunches
Verb
third-person singular presentpunches
present participlepunching
past participlepunched
pastpunched
Adjective
comparativemore punch
superlativemost punch
Proper noun
pluralPunches

Past tense of punch: punched

Plural of punch: punches

Origin of punch

From Middle English punchen, partially from Old French ponchonner (“to punch”), from ponchon (“pointed tool”), from Latin punctio, from punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick”); and partially from Middle English punchen, a syncopated variant of punischen ("to punish"; see punish). Also influenced by Middle English punchon ("a punch"; see puncheon). Compare also Middle English bunchen, bonchen (“to punch, deliver a blow, pound, beat”).

Shortened form of puncheon, from Middle English punchoun, from Old French ponchon (“pointed tool”), from Latin punctio, from punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō (“to prick”).

PIE word *pénkʷe From Hindi पाँच (pā̃c, “five”)/Urdu پانچ (pānc), because of the drink's original five ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, and spice), from Sanskrit पञ्च (páñca). Doublet of cinque, fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, five, pimp (“five”), ponzu, and sengi (“currency”); related to Punjab and Pompeii.

Words formed from punch

Phrases with punch

45 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with punch

Questions about punch

What does punch mean?
Punch means a hit or strike with one's fist.
What is punch in Hindi?
Punch in Hindi is मुक्का मारना, मुक्का मारो, घूंसे मारना. See Punch meaning in Hindi.
How do you use punch in a sentence?
Another shipmate remembered the watch clock on the strap we had to carry to punching stations.
What part of speech is punch?
Punch can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce punch?
Punch is pronounced /pʌnt͡ʃ/.
What is the plural of punch?
The plural of punch is punches.

Words near punch in the dictionary

  1. punce
  2. punced
  3. puncept
  4. puncepts
  5. punces
  6. punch
  7. punch above
  8. punch above one's weight
  9. Punch and Judies
  10. Punch and Judy
  11. punch bag

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: punch (page history and authors); Punch (page history and authors); punch (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); punch (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); punch (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); punch (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); punch (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); punch (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); punch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-punch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “punch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/punch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.