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
Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Often, when shows do crossovers, the writers on one will do punch-up for their characters on the other.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2025
Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2025
The mall, once the marquee shopping destination in the region, had become vacant, weeds punching up through its parking lot.
—Ben Paviour, New York Times, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for punch-up
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Noun
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
Often, when shows do crossovers, the writers on one will do punch-up for their characters on the other.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2025
Verb
Murphy, 30, could punch up a catching group that’s 29th in slugging percentage, batting average and weighted runs created and 30th in on-base percentage.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2025
The mall, once the marquee shopping destination in the region, had become vacant, weeds punching up through its parking lot.
—Ben Paviour, New York Times, 19 May 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 20 Aug. 2025.
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