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paunchy

[pawn-chee, pahn-]
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adjective, paunch·i·er, paunch·i·est.
  1. having a large and protruding belly; potbellied: a paunchy middle-aged man.
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Origin of paunchy

First recorded in 1590–1600; paunch + -y1
Related formspaunch·i·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for paunchy

Historical Examples

  • Should a paunchy waddler of this sort wreck at once his pride and his car?

    An Idyll of All Fools' Day

    Josephine Daskam Bacon

  • "Most unfortunate," sighed heavy-set, paunchy Martin Gest, gnawing his lip.

    Mask of Death

    Paul Ernst

  • McKee was bald, paunchy, middle-aged, his face loose from easy living.

    Before Egypt

    E. K. Jarvis

  • His face was rather fat and roundish; his build powerful but paunchy.

  • "How are you, Paunchy Pilate," said I, gettin' off a joak at his expense.

British Dictionary definitions for paunchy

paunchy

adjective -ier or -iest
  1. having a protruding belly or abdomen
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Derived Formspaunchiness, 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 paunchy

adj.

1590s, from paunch + -y (2). Related: Paunchiness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
paunchy in Medicine

paunchy

(pôn′chē, pän′-)
adj.
  1. Having a potbelly.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.