(~es, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ someone or something, you hit them hard with your fist.
After ~ing him on the chin she wound up hitting him over the head...
VERB: V n
•
In American English, ~ out means the same as ~ .
‘I almost lost my job today.’—‘What happened?’—‘Oh, I ~ed out this guy.’...
In the past, many kids would settle disputes by ~ing each other out.
PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P
•
Punch is also a noun.
He was hurting Johansson with body ~es in the fourth round.
N-COUNT
~er (~ers)
...the awesome range of blows which have confirmed him as boxing’s hardest ~er.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
2.
If you ~ the air, you put one or both of your fists forcefully above your shoulders as a gesture of delight or victory.
At the end, Graf ~ed the air in delight, a huge grin on her face.
VERB: V n
3.
If you ~ 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.
Mrs. Baylor strode to the elevator and ~ed the button.
= push, press
VERB: V n
4.
If you ~ holes in something, you make holes in it by pushing or pressing it with something sharp.
I took a ballpoint pen and ~ed a hole in the carton.
VERB: V n in n
5.
A ~ is a tool that you use for making holes in something.
Make two holes with a hole ~.
N-COUNT
6.
If you say that something has ~, you mean that it has force or effectiveness.
My nervousness made me deliver the vital points of my address without sufficient ~...
N-UNCOUNT
7.
Punch is a drink made from wine or spirits mixed with things such as sugar, lemons, and spices.
N-MASS
8.
If you say that someone does not pull their ~es 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.
She has a reputation for getting at the guts of a subject and never pulling her ~es.
PHRASE: V and N inflect, oft with brd-neg