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Definition of punch - 20 dictionary results
punch
1 [puhnch]
–noun
| 1. | a thrusting blow, esp. with the fist. |
| 2. | forcefulness, effectiveness, or pungency in content or appeal; power; zest: a letter to voters that needs more punch. |
–verb (used with object)
| 3. | to give a sharp thrust or blow to, esp. with the fist. |
| 4. | Western U.S. and Western Canada. to drive (cattle). |
| 5. | to poke or prod, as with a stick. |
| 6. | Informal. to deliver (lines in a play, a musical passage, or the like) with vigor. |
| 7. | to strike or hit in operating: to punch the typewriter keys. |
| 8. | to put into operation with or as if with a blow: to punch a time clock. |
| 9. | Baseball. to hit (the ball) with a short, chopping motion rather than with a full swing: He punched a soft liner just over third base for a base hit. |
–verb (used without object)
—Verb phrases| 10. | to give a sharp blow to a person or thing, as with the fist: The boxer punches well. |
| 11. | punch away, Informal. to keep trying or working, esp. in difficult or discouraging circumstances; persevere: punching away at the same old job. |
| 12. | punch in,
|
| 13. | punch out,
|
| 14. | punch up,
|
| 15. | pull punches,
|
| 16. | roll with the punches, Informal. to cope with and survive adversity: In the business world you quickly learn to roll with the punches. |
Related forms:
puncher, noun
Synonyms:
3. strike, hit; drub, pummel.
3. strike, hit; drub, pummel.
punch
2 [puhnch]
–noun
| 1. | a tool or machine for perforating or stamping materials, driving nails, etc. |
| 2. | the solid upper die of a punch press, used with a hollow die to blank out shaped pieces of sheet metal or the like. |
–verb (used with object)
| 3. | to cut, stamp, pierce, perforate, form, or drive with a tool or machine that punches. |
–verb (used without object)
| 4. | to work at or on something with or as if with a mechanical punch. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To punch
punch 2 (pŭnch) tr.v. punched, punch·ing, punch·es
punch inTo check in formally at a job upon arrival. punch out
Idiom(s): beat to the punchTo make the first decisive move: a marketing team that beat all the competitors to the punch. [Middle English punchen, to thrust, prod, prick, from Old French poinçonner, ponchonner, to emboss with a punch, from poinçon, ponchon, pointed tool; see puncheon1.] punch'less adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Punch
Punch\, n. [Hind. p[=a]nch five, Skr. pa?can. So called because composed of five ingredients, viz., sugar, arrack, spice, water, and lemon juice. See Five.] A beverage composed of wine or distilled liquor, water (or milk), sugar, and the juice of lemon, with spice or mint; -- specifically named from the kind of spirit used; as rum punch, claret punch, champagne punch, etc. Milk punch, a sort of punch made with spirit, milk, sugar, spice, etc. Punch bowl, a large bowl in which punch is made, or from which it is served. Roman punch, a punch frozen and served as an ice.Punch
Punch\, n. [Abbrev, fr. punchinello.] The buffoon or harlequin of a puppet show. Punch and Judy, a puppet show in which a comical little hunchbacked Punch, with a large nose, engages in altercation with his wife Judy.Punch
Punch\, n. [Prov. E. Cf. Punchy.]1. A short, fat fellow; anything short and thick. I . . . 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. --Pepys. 2. One of a breed of large, heavy draught horses; as, the Suffolk punch.Punch
Punch\, v. t. [OE. punchen, perhaps the same word as E. punish: or cf. E. bunch.] To thrust against; to poke; as, to punch one with the end of a stick or the elbow.Punch
Punch\, n. A thrust or blow. [Colloq.]Punch
Punch\, n. [Abbrev. fr. puncheon.]1. A tool, usually of steel, variously shaped at one end for different uses, and either solid, for stamping or for perforating holes in metallic plates and other substances, or hollow and sharpedged, for cutting out blanks, as for buttons, steel pens, jewelry, and the like; a die. 2. (Pile Driving) An extension piece applied to the top of a pile; a dolly. 3. A prop, as for the roof of a mine. Bell punch. See under Bell. Belt punch (Mach.), a punch, or punch pliers, for making holes for lacings in the ends of driving belts. Punch press. See Punching machine, under Punch, v. i. Punch pliers, pliers having a tubular, sharp-edged steel punch attached to one of the jaws, for perforating leather, paper, and the like.Punch
Punch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Punched; p. pr. & vb. n. Punching.] [From Punch, n., a tool; cf. F. poin[,c]onner.] To perforate or stamp with an instrument by pressure, or a blow; as, to punch a hole; to punch ticket. Punching machine, or Punching press, a machine tool for punching holes in metal or other material; -- called also punch press.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : punch
Spanish:
ponche,
German:
der Punch,
Japanese:
パンチ
punch (v.)
"to drive (cattle, etc.) by poking and prodding," c.1382, from O.Fr. ponchonner "to punch, prick, stamp," from ponchon "pointed tool, piercing weapon" (see punch (n.1)). Meaning "to stab, puncture" is from c.1440. Specific meaning of "to hit with the fist" first recorded 1530, probably influenced by punish. To punch a ticket, etc., is c.1440, probably from a shortening of puncheon "pointed tool," from O.Fr. ponchon.
punch (n.1)
"pointed tool," c.1460, short for puncheon (1367), from O.Fr. ponchon "pointed tool, piercing weapon," from V.L. *punctionem (nom. punctio) "pointed tool," from L. punctus, pp. of pungere "to prick." Meaning "machine for pressing or stamping a die" is from 1628; sense of "a blow with the first" is from 1580. Fig. sense of "forceful, vigorous quality" is recorded from 1911. To beat (someone) to the punch is from 1923, a metaphor from boxing. Punch line is from 1921; punch-drunk is from 1915.
punch (n.2)
"mixed drink," 1632, traditionally said to derive from Hindi panch "five," in allusion to the number of original ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, spice), from Skt. panchan-s.
Punch
the puppet show star, 1709, shortening of Punchinello (1666), from It. (Neapolitan) Pollecinella, dim. of pollecena "turkey pullet," probably in allusion to his big nose. The phrase pleased as punch apparently refers to his unfailing triumph over enemies. The comic weekly of this name was published in London from 1841.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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punch
In addition to the idioms beginning with punch, also see beat to it (the punch); can't punch one's way out of a paper bag; pack a punch; pleased as punch; pull no punches; roll with the punches; sucker punch; throw a punch.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.


