pummel

[puhm-uhl]

verb (used with object)

pummeled, pummeling , pummelled, pummelling .

1. to beat or thrash with or as if with the fists.

pummel

/ ˈpʌməl /

verb

1. Also (less commonly): pommel. (tr) to strike repeatedly with or as if with the fists

Other Word Forms

• unpummeled adjective
• unpummelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pummel¹

First recorded in 1540–50; alteration of pommel

Word History and Origins

Origin of pummel¹

C16: see _pommel

Example Sentences

Despite the pummeling and repeated warnings that the roughly 1 million Gaza City residents should flee south to so-called humanitarian areas, more than two-thirds remain, according to Israeli military estimates.

From Los Angeles Times

Devastating fires have pummeled Southern California in the last several decades, shifting the public conversation from fire suppression to fire preparedness and mitigation as governments begrudgingly acknowledge the disasters as regular occurrences.

From Los Angeles Times

A series of named storms that pummelled the UK beginning in the autumn of 2023 helped cause widespread flooding in early January.

From BBC

In the last several months Moscow has claimed to have captured several villages while pummelling the city of Sumy with heavy missile strikes, killing dozens.

From BBC

The aftereffects of the ensuing mass protests have also pummeled restaurants and bars in the downtown area, with widespread vandalism in the Civic Center and Little Tokyo areas.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bash 
• batter 
• crush 
• flog 
• knock 
• lash 
• maul 
• pelt 
• punch 
• smack 
• thrash 
• trounce 
• wallop 
• whip