pack a punch
Idioms-
Also, pack a wallop.
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Be capable of a forceful blow; also, deliver a forceful blow. For example, Knowing Bob could pack a wicked punch, they were careful not to anger him , or She swung her handbag, really packing a wallop . [ Colloquial ; c. 1920]
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Have a powerful effect, as in That vodka martini packed a wallop . Thomas Wolfe had this figurative usage in a letter (c. 1938): “I think my play, The House , will pack a punch.”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Mast cells pack a punch, when activated by IgE antibodies they can be said to explode and release inflammatory factors into the skin -- this is what causes itching and hives."
From Science Daily • May 21, 2024
Stepping up to this kind of trip for the first time, and the extra distance will need to suit for Fury Road to pack a punch.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2023
Even though video makes up just 2 percent of the collection, Barlow and Gilotty’s performance selections pack a punch.
From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2023
All these years out, Kruger’s image — a Solomonic view of a woman’s face, whose halves, in their contrasting tones, seem as if they are being pulled apart — continues to pack a punch.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2022
And he seems to pack a punch up his sleeve.
From Poor Man's Rock by Johnson, Frank Tenney
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
