punch line

noun

: the sentence, statement, or phrase (as in a joke) that makes the point

Examples of punch line in a Sentence

She didn't understand the punch line.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Dalai Lama’s body may be ailing, true, but no one should bet against the punch line belonging to the monk who never stopped laughing. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 9 July 2026

Leave it to Perry's Chandler Bing to deliver a sarcastic remark or punch line. — Grace Gavilanes, PEOPLE, 18 June 2026

Chocolate brings it home with a punch line—a wry observation to end the story with a laugh. — Joseph Trinidad, Longreads, 16 June 2026

The editing of the show is frenetic, the better to hold a distractible YouTube audience’s attention and provide fodder for clips, and as a result much of the dialogue comes across as choppy, with Rahma inserting quick punch lines. — Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 10 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for punch line

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• brucine
• byline