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punch

/pʌnt͡ʃ/noun, verb

punch is a noun meaning “A hit or strike with one's fist” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled P-U-N-C-H and has one syllable, and it appears 21 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of punch is punches.

What does punch mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A hit or strike with one's fist.

  2. 2

    rareA blow from something other than the fist.

  3. 3

    Power, strength, energy.

    The tornado is finally losing its punch.

  4. 4

    Impact.

  5. 5

    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.

  6. 6

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

  7. 7

    A hole or opening created with a punch.

  8. 8

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

  9. 9

    A prop, as for the roof of a mine.

  10. 10

    A beverage, generally containing a mixture of fruit juice and some other beverage, often alcoholic.

  11. 11

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

  12. 12

    archaicA short fat person.

verb

  1. 1

    To strike with one's fist.

    If she punches me, I'm gonna break her nose.

  2. 2

    To herd.

  3. 3

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

  4. 4

    To enter (information) on a device or system.

  5. 5

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

    He punched a hit into shallow left field.

  6. 6

    To make holes in something (rail ticket, leather belt, etc) (see also the verb under Etymology 2).

  7. 7

    To thrust against; to poke.

    to punch one with the end of a stick or the elbow

  8. 8

    UKslangEllipsis of punch above one's weight, especially, to date somebody more attractive than oneself.

  9. 9

    To employ a punch to create a hole in or stamp or emboss a mark on something.

  10. 10

    To mark a ticket.

noun

as Punch
  1. 1

    Ellipsis of Suffolk Punch (“a horse of that breed”).

  2. 2

    A butterfly of the genus Dodona.

adjective

  1. 1

    ScotlandarchaicShort and thickset.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce punch?

  • /pʌnt͡ʃ/
  • /pʌnʃ/

Punch has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-punch.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of punch

  • punches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • punching participle, present
  • punched participle, past
  • punce
  • pince
  • more punch comparative
  • most punch superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is punch?

Punch appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with punch

Also written: especially, punch above one's weight.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Punch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcoup de poing (a hit or a strike with one's fist), punch (power, strength, energy), cogner, donner un coup de poing (to strike something or someone with one's fist), perforer (to make holes), poinçon (device for creating holes in thin material)
GermanFaustschlag, Schlag, Stoß (a hit or a strike with one's fist), Schwung, Pep, Temperament (power, strength, energy)
Portuguesemurro, soco (a hit or a strike with one's fist), esmurrar, socar (to strike something or someone with one's fist), furar, picar (to make holes)
Spanishpuñetazo, puñete, puñada, piñazo, zocotroco (a hit or a strike with one's fist), dar un puñetazo (to strike something or someone with one's fist)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does punch come 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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).