1
as in to slap
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
after the man had punched the bartender for eighty-sixing him, bouncers stepped in and restrained him until the police could arrive
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in to drill
to make a hole or series of holes in
punch a ticket
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in impact
the quality of an utterance that provokes interest and produces an effect
the real punch of the speech came in its closing lines
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in vigor
active strength of body or mind
we're going to need a candidate with real punch if voters are ever going to get excited about this election
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in blow
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
the poor palooka wasn't able to land a single punch on his opponent
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in puncture
a mark or small hole made by a pointed instrument
old computers used to get information by reading the punches on a series of cards
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of punch
Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 10 Feb. 2026
Following a timeout by Braintree, however, the Wamps punched right back with a 7-0 run in a 59-second stretch to cut things to 12-11.
—Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Feb. 2026
Jones, who also had 10 rebounds, was a force inside, while Hackett and Mporokoso traded 3-pointers in the second half like two boxers exchanging punches.
—Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for punch
Verb
Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said a staff member was punched during the on-court fracas.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 10 Feb. 2026
Following a timeout by Braintree, however, the Wamps punched right back with a 7-0 run in a 59-second stretch to cut things to 12-11.
—Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
Noun
At the press site, a pressure wave of a sonic boom came in with a double punch to the eardrums, followed by the roar of the engines from the pad only 3 miles away and the whistling echo bouncing off the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, making a sound reminiscent of bottle rockets.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Feb. 2026
Jones, who also had 10 rebounds, was a force inside, while Hackett and Mporokoso traded 3-pointers in the second half like two boxers exchanging punches.
—Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for punch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punch
Verb
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Grahovac was hit on the first pitch of the day, and Sorell slapped a single through right field to give A&M two runners with no outs.—
Tony Catalina,
Austin American Statesman,
15 Feb. 2026
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Beware of the word ‘spread’ slapped across anything passing itself off as pimento cheese.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There needs to be a realistic amount of financial buy-in from drilling companies to fully cover plugging activities.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
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Then, drill several wide holes into the stump.—
Steven John,
Architectural Digest,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Immigration enforcement efforts in Oklahoma also have focused heavily on apprehending commercial truckers driving on interstate highways.—
Nuria Martinez-Keel,
Oklahoma Voice,
10 Feb. 2026
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Duren had the ball and was driving toward the basket with just over seven minutes left in the third period when he was fouled by Diabate.—
Steve Reed,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But tens of thousands of films are made each year, and quite a few of them break the rules, defy conventional narrative expectations and smack us deep in our souls.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
8 Feb. 2026
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Shepard attached the head of a 6-iron golf club to his sample collecting tool and was recorded smacking a couple golf balls across the lunar landscape.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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From another ward not too far away, the piercing screams of a patient are audible.—
Sophia Saifi,
CNN Money,
3 Feb. 2026
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The dress was a reference to Thierry Mugler’s bold and iconic spring couture 1998 runway show, in which Erica Vanbriel modeled the original nipple piercing dress.—
Alexandra Hildreth,
Vogue,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Cisco says the platform is built to support massive AI clusters running training, inference, and real-time agentic workloads while improving efficiency and lowering operating costs.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
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In September, the preliminary revision inferred that the US economy likely added about 911,000 fewer jobs than the jobs reports initially estimated for the 12-month period running from April 2024 through March 2025.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As former agent and cap expert Joel Corry told me, the amount that Ross agrees to pay of Tagovailoa’s 2026 salary (for a new team) would not have much effect on his Dolphins’ dead money cap hit provided the trade is made after June 1.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
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Some of the students at Naperville North tried to mimic the coach’s actions, working on their technique, while other appeared to be more focused on hitting the ball to their friend as hard as possible.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Kimmel wasn’t the only late-night host to poke fun at TPUSA’s counter-program, born out of MAGA’s outcry over Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
10 Feb. 2026
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The Americans, meanwhile, stayed on their best, most humble behavior afterward, trying not to poke the wounded bear.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Punch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punch. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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