paunch

noun

ˈpȯnch 

ˈpänch

1

a

: the belly and its contents

b

: potbelly

2

: rumen

Synonyms

• bay window
• beer belly
• belly
• corporation
• gut
• pot
• potbelly

Example Sentences

He sat with his hands folded over his paunch.

He used to be very thin but now he has a slight paunch.

Recent Examples on the Web

This was a small motormouth Italian man with a slight paunch, charming to his core, decked out with rings, and sporting an unruly mop of kinky hair. —Corbin Smith, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2023

Working out is part of his contribution to Ukraine’s all-hands-on-deck war effort: The National Guardsman expects to be sent eastward to the battlefields soon and doesn’t want to take his paunch with him for the fight against Russia’s invasion force. —Ella Lee, USA TODAY, 11 June 2022

Working out is part of his contribution to Ukraine's all-hands-on-deck war effort: The National Guardsman expects to be sent eastward to the battlefields soon and doesn't want to take his paunch with him for the fight against Russia's invasion force. —John Leicester, ajc, 11 June 2022

Pathak, a short, mustached man with the paunch of 28 years’ service in the Indian police, wrote that his office in the island capital of Port Blair had received an e-mail two days earlier from the U.S. consulate in Chennai, 850 miles away on the mainland. —Alex Perry, Outside Online, 24 July 2019

The extra paunch would also have helped these penguins stay warm in the water. —Jack Tamisiea, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2023

Then a burly, shirtless man with a hairy, sagging paunch appears at the front door. —Edward Kiersh, SPIN, 11 Feb. 2023

The carefree, six-pack wild child of the late 1980s is now a reflective and sober man with a middle-aged paunch and gait. —Rodney Ho, ajc, 26 May 2022

Not enough time to fall in love with gluten, grow a slight paunch, tame his golf swing, or find a wooden bench outside a tackle shop where everyone gossips and drinks sludge coffee. —Jason Gay, WSJ, 14 Mar. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French *panche, pance, from Latin pantic-, pantex

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

paunch

noun

ˈpȯnch 

ˈpänch

1

: the belly together with its contents

2

: potbelly sense 1

Medical Definition

paunch

noun

ˈpȯnch, ˈpänch 

: rumen