punching

verb

present participle of punch
1
as in slapping
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 drilling
to make a hole or series of holes in punch a ticket

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in driving
to urge, push, or force onward cowboys punching cattle

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of punching Then left tackle Alaric Jackson was suspended by the NFL for punching a Bills player on the field after the game. — Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 The attackers uttered homophobic remarks before repeatedly punching and kicking the victims, police said. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 14 Oct. 2026 Someone who people think is abrasive and is screaming ‘Love me,’ but punching people at the same time. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026 An image from a San Francisco police officer's body camera shows an officer punching Kevon Gibson as he is being restrained by other officers. — Senior Editor, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026 In June, LaBeouf was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to punching three people outside a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026 Unscrewing its top reveals a small pin that can be used for punching holes, ejecting a SIM card, or simply as a toothpick. — Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 6 Oct. 2026 According to Liv, LaPenna injured his hand while punching one of the robots but otherwise avoided a serious injury. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026 But there’s a difference between putting an opponent to sleep and punching it in the face. — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punching
  1. slapping
  2. drilling
  3. driving
  4. hitting
  5. piercing
  6. running
  7. smacking
  8. poking
Verb
  • Less than three months after that deal was announced in January 2022, Smith became an industry pariah after slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars, earning a 10-year ban from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Hochman said the nannies were caught on video spanking, slapping or hitting the children.
    — News Editor, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of slapping
Verb
  • Public-health and environmental advocates have also raised concerns about drilling near communities, including potential air- and water-quality harms.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The strings were installed by drilling holes with hot water, lowering the modules into the ice and allowing the holes to refreeze.
    — Daniella McCahey, The Conversation, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of drilling
Verb
  • Biggs has accused the Hobbs administration of driving up home prices with stringent water requirements that stalled new buildings in parts of the Phoenix area.
    — Hannah Knowles The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
  • No amount of spending from whatever PAC source is driving it into the elections are going to change that dynamic.
    — NBC news, NBC news, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of driving
Verb
  • Social media videos of him hitting tennis balls and baseballs while listing his policy proposals have provided a font of online mockery.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Lips and eyes were also adorned at the L’Oreal Paris booth, where guests received touch-ups before hitting the adjacent Allure Red Carpet.
    — Eden Stuart, Allure, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of hitting
Verb
  • The individual who inflicted the fatal injury drove the spear downward through the victim’s left chest cavity from the front, piercing major arteries and the lungs before creating the hole in the left scapula.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 15 Oct. 2026
  • An argument between children over a pizza slice escalated into a 10-year-old girl having a knife thrown at her chest, piercing her skin, by her 8-year-old brother Thursday, police said.
    — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of piercing
Verb
  • On the other, evidence suggests this pair of habitual time-wasters were commonly found on the floor, running laughter through a Yamaha SPX90 effects processor for kicks and strumming the same note for 40-odd minutes.
    — Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Albert Ramdin, secretary general of the Organization of American States, also has said that candidates with criminal ties should be barred from running.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of running
Verb
  • But Varma and Shivam Dube (27) upped the ante in the final three overs by smacking 57 runs against Sufyan Moqim, Ayub and Ahmed Daniyal.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Carrington was ejected from the game in the first half after smacking Cunningham across the face during Cunningham's layup attempt.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of smacking
Verb
  • My physical study, on the floor, poking at what was there in the open field of the air, led to newfound levels of learning to process, in poems on the page, where my initial feelings of hunger came from.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In a recent interview with OutKick Dropkick, Hefner was already poking the bear in hopes of getting eyes on his event.
    — Ryan Gaydos OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of poking

Browse Nearby Words

punches out
punching
punching bag
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Punching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punching. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All