sucker punch

verb

|Updated on: 30 May 2018

Examples: sucker punch in a Sentence

Definition of sucker punch

transitive verb

: to punch (a person) suddenly without warning and often without apparent provocation

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sucker punch

noun

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Examples of sucker punch in a Sentence

One of them sucker punched me.

Recent Examples of sucker punch from the Web

And then a series of events felt like a sucker punch, leaving me gasping for air.

— lakeisha fleming, CNN, "Christianity and depression: It's complicated," 20 May 2018
He was knocked around by silly perceptions, pushed backward by injury concerns, then ultimately flattened with an absolute sucker punch from his former coach Jim Mora.

— bill plaschke, latimes.com, "Rosen says nine teams made mistakes by passing on him," 27 Apr. 2018
McClatchy Marshall Police Department Watch the punch that earned this women's basketball player only a two-game suspension Kerville Tivy senior McKenzie Dill sucker punched South San Antonio sophomore Destiny Hilliary during a game in November.

— stephen english, star-telegram, "She tried to run a woman over, police say. Instead, she drove into a store," 17 Apr. 2018
Nearly a year after killing a California father of five with one sucker punch, a 28-year-old man was sentenced on Tuesday to serve three to 10 years in a Nevada prison under the terms of a deal orchestrated by prosecutors, PEOPLE confirms.

— chris harris, PEOPLE.com, "Man Admits Killing Father-of-Five With Sucker Punch While Victim Was in Vegas for Bachelor Party," 12 Apr. 2018
Everton were dealt a sucker punch after 21 minutes when the Ireland midfielder capped off a superb 23-pass move to the delight of the travelling contingent.

— SI.com, "Burnley vs Everton Preview: Past Meeting, Form, Team News, Prediction & More," 2 Mar. 2018
The process is slow and painstaking, but midway through the film this plucky bunch of senior citizens lands a sucker punch by persuading Argentine judge Maria Servini to mount a legal challenge under international law.

— stephen dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Silence of Others': Film Review | Berlin 2018," 21 Feb. 2018
Until its bottom line takes a sucker punch, there’s no impetus for United to make any serious changes to this culture of customer disdain.

— christopher muther, BostonGlobe.com, "Why are people still flying United?," 16 Mar. 2018
Fast forward a week and the drama of Paul’s sucker punch was gone.

— chris chase, For The Win, "How the NBA's biggest stars fared in the NCAA tournament," 14 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sucker punch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.