- 1to hit someone or something hard with your fist (= closed hand) punch somebody/something He was kicked and punched as he lay on the ground. He was punching the air in triumph. punch somebody/something in/on something She punched him on the nose.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- 2punch something (in/through something) to make a hole in something with a punch or some other sharp object punch something to punch a time card punch something in/through something The machine punches a row of holes in the metal sheet.
- 3punch something to press buttons or keys on a computer, telephone, etc. in order to operate it I punched the button to summon the elevator.
verb jump to other results
NAmE//pʌntʃ//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they punch he / she / it punches
past simple punched
-ing form punching
noun He's one of boxing's strongest punchers.Idioms
to find the weak points in something such as a plan, suggestion, etc. It was easy to pick holes in his arguments.
to be or try to be more successful than others in doing something that normally requires more skill, experience, money, etc. than you have This player seems to be able to constantly punch above his weight. He punched above his weight as the party's foreign affairs spokesman. Phrasal Verbspunch inpunch outSee punch in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: punch