punch line

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Also see: line

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
punch1

▶verb

• 1 strike with the fist.

• 2 press (a button or key on a machine).

  ■ (punch in or out) N. Amer. (of an employee) clock in (or out).

• 3 N. Amer. drive (cattle) by prodding them with a stick.

▶noun

• 1 a blow with the fist.

• 2 informal effectiveness; impact.

– phrases
punch above one's weight informal engage in an activity perceived as beyond one's abilities.
punch the clock N. Amer. (of an employee) clock in or out.

– derivatives
puncher noun.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘puncture, prod’): var. of pounce1.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
punch2

▶noun

• 1 a device or machine for making holes in materials such as paper and metal.

• 2 a tool or machine for impressing a design or stamping a die on a material.

▶verb pierce a hole in (a material) with or as if with a punch.

■ pierce (a hole) in this way.

– origin C16: perh. an abbrev. of puncheon1, or from punch1.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
punch3

▶noun a drink made from wine or spirits mixed with water, fruit juices, spices, etc.

– origin C17: appar. from Sanskrit pañca ‘five, five kinds of’ (because the drink had five ingredients).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
punch4

▶noun

• 1 (Punch) a grotesque, hook-nosed humpbacked buffoon, the chief male character of the Punch and Judy puppet show.

• 2 (also Suffolk punch) a draught horse of a short-legged thickset breed.

– phrases
as pleased (or proud) as Punch feeling great delight or pride.

– origin C17: abbrev. of Punchinello; sense 2 derives from a dial. term denoting a short, fat person.