as in to lick
to strike repeatedly
you should take a course in anger management—you can't go around punching out people
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in fistfight
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of punch-out
Ewan Spence, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
In his first start in the big leagues, Festa struggled to turn his excellent stuff into strikeouts, giving up five runs with two punch-outs in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
—Eno Sarris, The Athletic, 23 Aug. 2024
The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 June 2025
On Sunday, Cruz punched out Baltimore’s Ramón Laureano, Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins — all on splitters — before the Yankees rallied in the bottom of the eighth.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for punch-out
Verb
Asus chose to have a punch-out camera and obscure part of the screen rather than mount it in a larger bezel, which shows how form has come ahead of function.
—Ewan Spence, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
In his first start in the big leagues, Festa struggled to turn his excellent stuff into strikeouts, giving up five runs with two punch-outs in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
—Eno Sarris, The Athletic, 23 Aug. 2024
Noun
Gather up the scraps, reroll and punch out 2 more rounds.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 June 2025
On Sunday, Cruz punched out Baltimore’s Ramón Laureano, Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins — all on splitters — before the Yankees rallied in the bottom of the eighth.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for punch-out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punch-out
Verb
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The Boston Celtics are still licking their wounds following the heartbreaking end to the 2024-25 NBA season.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 July 2025
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And Lil Wayne agrees by licking my face, which is part of the job description for companion dogs.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Oc Register,
9 July 2025
Noun
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But after most fans filed out of the stadium, some San Diego supporters appeared to approach the visitors’ section, and multiple fistfights erupted — some dangerously close to the railing above the lower bowl.—
Mark Zeigler,
Chicago Tribune,
25 May 2025
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After an exchange of words, the two got into a fistfight.—
Sheetal Banchariya,
New York Daily News,
25 June 2025
Verb
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But unlike other technologies, AI doesn’t hide its default bias.—
Pia Lauritzen,
Forbes.com,
20 July 2025
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More than a month after the shooting, police located the vehicle Orona had driven, hidden on a Buckeye property owned by his girlfriend’s family.—
Rey Covarrubias Jr,
AZCentral.com,
20 July 2025
Verb
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That first flight on April 28, 2021, was deep within the COVID-19 pandemic that pounded the airline industry.—
Michael Goldstein,
Forbes.com,
17 July 2025
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Play was suspended a couple of times because of severe weather, the occasional pounding rain and possibly lightning.—
Doug Ferguson,
Chicago Tribune,
15 July 2025
Verb
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The face of the franchise lashed at a breaking ball in the fifth, pulling a hit onto open grass to double the lead.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
26 July 2025
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Beijing has lashed out against those concerns, including the 27-member bloc’s move last year to raise tariffs on its electric vehicles, launching a range of its own trade probes in apparent retaliation.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
24 July 2025
Noun
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The game itself was a sloppy slugfest, with both teams combining for 31 turnovers (Magic Johnson coughed it up no fewer than seven times, with two of those fumbles occurring in the final minute) and the Celtics shooting 39.5% from the field.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
11 July 2025
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In our interview, Sheeraz called him an underrated boxer, which is rare praise from a rising British star, and one that suggests this won’t just be a slugfest.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
Verb
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On a Friday night in February on East Sixth Street, a steely-eyed bar doorman rushed around a crowd agitating on the sidewalk and whipped a flashlight above his shoulder.—
Ella McCarthy,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
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While the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun rolling back its shoes-off policy at security checkpoints, this ability to whip them off and on in seconds is still majorly convenient for travel.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
29 July 2025
Noun
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That said, the negative reputation surrounding the last lines in Jones’ thorny adaptation — a punch-up from Ellison’s original text that’s meaner and more sexist, no doubt — seems outsized.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 July 2025
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Often, when shows do crossovers, the writers on one will do punch-up for their characters on the other.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
4 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Punch-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punch-out. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
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