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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

punch.

A hit or strike with one's fist.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. A hit or strike with one's fist.

    countable
  2. A blow from something other than the fist.

    countable · rare
  3. Power, strength, energy.

    uncountable
    The tornado is finally losing its punch.
  4. Impact.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. To strike with one's fist.

    transitive
    If she punches me, I'm gonna break her nose.
  2. To herd.

    transitive
  3. To operate (a device or system) by depressing a button, key, bar, or pedal, or by similar means.

    transitive
  4. To enter (information) on a device or system.

    transitive
  5. To hit (a ball or similar object) with less than full force.

    transitive
    He punched a hit into shallow left field.
  6. To make holes in something (rail ticket, leather belt, etc) (see also the verb under Etymology 2).

    transitive
  7. To thrust against; to poke.

    to punch one with the end of a stick or the elbow
  8. Ellipsis of punch above one's weight, especially, to date somebody more attractive than oneself.

    UK · abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · intransitive · slang
  9. To perform pigeage: to stamp down grape skins that float to the surface during fermentation.

    transitive
  10. To emphasize; to give emphasis to.

    transitive
    Getting a little tired of you punching that word.
  11. To light marijuana in a bong.

    Australia · New-Zealand · slang
    We're gonna punch a few cones.
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. 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.

    countable
  2. 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. A mechanism for punching holes in paper or other thin material.

    countable
  3. A hole or opening created with a punch.

    countable
  4. An extension piece applied to the top of a pile; a dolly.

  5. A prop, as for the roof of a mine.

Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. To employ a punch to create a hole in or stamp or emboss a mark on something.

  2. To mark a ticket.

Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. A beverage, generally containing a mixture of fruit juice and some other beverage, often alcoholic.

    uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. Any of various riodinid butterflies of the genus Dodona of Asia.

Where this word comes from

From Punch.

noun/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. A short fat person.

    archaic · regional
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Perhaps shortened from puncheon (compare German Punze, Punzen (“cask; short fat person or thing”)) or Punchinello.

adj/pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
  1. Short and thickset.

    Northern-England · Scotland · archaic
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Perhaps shortened from puncheon (compare German Punze, Punzen (“cask; short fat person or thing”)) or Punchinello.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.