punch

[[t]pʌ̱ntʃ[/t]]

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punches, punching, punched

1) VERB If you punch someone or something, you hit them hard with your fist.

[V n] After punching him on the chin she wound up hitting him over the head...

[V n] He punched the wall angrily, then spun round to face her.

Derived words:

puncher plural N-COUNT usu supp N

...the awesome range of blows which have confirmed him as boxing's hardest puncher.

PHRASAL VERB

In American English, punch out means the same as punch.

V P n (not pron) `I almost lost my job today.' - `What happened?' - `Oh, I punched out this guy.'... V n P In the past, many kids would settle disputes by punching each other out.

N-COUNT

Punch is also a noun.

He was hurting Johansson with body punches in the fourth round.

2) VERB If you punch the air, you put one or both of your fists forcefully above your shoulders as a gesture of delight or victory.

[V n] At the end, Graf punched the air in delight, a huge grin on her face.

3) VERB If you punch something such as the buttons on a keyboard, you touch them in order to store information on a machine such as a computer or to give the machine a command to do something.

[V n] Mrs. Baylor strode to the elevator and punched the button.

Syn:

push

4) VERB If you punch holes in something, you make holes in it by pushing or pressing it with something sharp.

[V n in n] I took a ballpoint pen and punched a hole in the carton.

5) N-COUNT A punch is a tool that you use for making holes in something.

Make two holes with a hole punch.

6) N-UNCOUNT If you say that something has punch, you mean that it has force or effectiveness.

My nervousness made me deliver the vital points of my address without sufficient punch...

Hurricane Andrew may be slowly losing its punch, but its winds are still around 100 miles an hour.

7) N-MASS Punch is a drink made from wine or spirits mixed with things such as sugar, lemons, and spices.

8) PHRASE: V and N inflect, oft with brd-neg If you say that someone does not pull their punches when they are criticizing a person or thing, you mean that they say exactly what they think, even though this might upset or offend people.

to pack a punch → see pack

She has a reputation for getting at the guts of a subject and never pulling her punches.

Phrasal Verbs:

- punch in