paunch

[ pawnch, pahnch ]
See synonyms for: paunchpaunches on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a large and protruding belly; potbelly.

  2. the belly or abdomen.

  1. the rumen.

Origin of paunch

1
1325–75; Middle English paunche<Anglo-French, for Middle French pance<Latin panticēs (plural) bowels

Other words from paunch

  • paunched, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use paunch in a sentence

  • Not more than forty, with a clear, pallid skin that had never known the sun, he was paunched and weak-legged.

  • He had guessed right, Sergeant Black was an honest sleeper, one of Shakespeare's full-paunched kind.

    Bulldog Carney | W. A. Fraser
  • He sat on the chair like a large-paunched gorilla, his round head topping the fatty mound like a coconut.

    The Three Sapphires | W. A. Fraser
  • Wemple went down, returning in several minutes with a tidily-paunched, well-built, gray-haired American of fifty.

  • The elder was a huge man, deep-bearded and heavy-paunched, with a frown on his face and few words to spare.

    Through Arctic Lapland | Cutcliffe Hyne

British Dictionary definitions for paunch

paunch

/ (pɔːntʃ) /


noun
  1. the belly or abdomen, esp when protruding

  2. another name for rumen

  1. nautical a thick mat that prevents chafing

verb(tr)
  1. to stab in the stomach; disembowel

Origin of paunch

1
C14: from Anglo-Norman paunche, from Old French pance, from Latin panticēs (pl) bowels

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