punched up; punching up; punches up
: to give energy or forcefulness to
jokes added to punch up a speech
Examples of punch-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2025
That said, the negative reputation surrounding the last lines in Jones’ thorny adaptation — a punch-up from Ellison’s original text that’s meaner and more sexist, no doubt — seems outsized.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 15 Nov. 2025
Fix/Enhance options include video denoise, audio denoise, and enhancements to punch up color and sharpness.
—PC Magazine, 15 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for punch-up
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Noun
But comics depend on feedback – punch-ups from fellow comedians and reactions from audiences – iterating jokes in the same way lean startups may innovate new products.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2025
That said, the negative reputation surrounding the last lines in Jones’ thorny adaptation — a punch-up from Ellison’s original text that’s meaner and more sexist, no doubt — seems outsized.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Verb
The Zombieland reunions didn’t stop there as Fleischer then brought in screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to punch up the script while filming was already underway.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 15 Nov. 2025
Fix/Enhance options include video denoise, audio denoise, and enhancements to punch up color and sharpness.
—PC Magazine, 15 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for punch-up
Cite this Entry
“Punch-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/punch-up. Accessed 24 Nov. 2025.
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