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haymaker

[hey-mey-ker]
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noun
  1. a person or machine that cuts hay and spreads it to dry.
  2. Slang. a punch delivered with great force, especially one that results in a knockout.
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Origin of haymaker

1400–50; 1910–15 for def 2; late Middle English heymakere. See hay, maker
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

bumpcollisionslambeltimpactjarjoltpercussionthumpwhackkickblowcrashclashpunchsmackslugbashsmashthwack

Examples from the Web for haymaker

Historical Examples

  • Had a lynx or other prowler captured the haymaker in the unsheltered hayfield?

    Watched by Wild Animals

    Enos A. Mills

  • I took careful aim and threw a haymaker, giving it everything I had.

    The Telenizer

    Don Thompson

  • The sum total might be a quart, but would it be the same thing to the haymaker?

    Feeding the Mind

    Lewis Carroll

  • Keep the rake, says the haymaker, as nigh the scythe as you can, and the cart as nigh the rake.

    Essays

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • As the man threw up his hands in an involuntary motion to shield his face, Johnny landed a haymaker square on his chin.

    The Firebug

    Roy J. Snell

British Dictionary definitions for haymaker

haymaker

noun
  1. a person who helps to cut, turn, toss, spread, or carry hay
  2. Also called: hay conditioner either of two machines, one designed to crush stems of hay, the other to break and bend them, in order to cause more rapid and even drying
  3. boxing slang a wild swinging punch
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Derived Formshaymaking, adjective, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for haymaker

n.

mid-15c. as the name of an agricultural occupation (hay-making is attested from c.1400); 1910 in the sense of "very strong blow with the fist," from hay + agent noun of make; the punch probably so called for resemblance to the wide swinging stroke of a scythe. Haymaker punch attested from 1907.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper