pummel
Americanverb (used with object)
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pummels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pummeled,
past participle, past
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pummelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
pummeling,
present participle
-
pummelling
present participle (especially British)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pummelsimple
-
pummelssimple
-
have pummeledperfect
-
have pummelledperfect
-
has pummeledperfect
-
has pummelledperfect
-
am pummelingprogressive
-
am pummellingprogressive
-
are pummelingprogressive
-
are pummellingprogressive
-
is pummelingprogressive
-
is pummellingprogressive
-
have been pummelingperfect progressive
-
have been pummellingperfect progressive
-
has been pummelingperfect progressive
-
has been pummellingperfect progressive
Past
-
pummeledsimple
-
pummelledsimple
-
had pummeledperfect
-
had pummelledperfect
-
was pummelingprogressive
-
was pummellingprogressive
-
were pummelingprogressive
-
were pummellingprogressive
-
had been pummelingperfect progressive
-
had been pummellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pummel
First recorded in 1540–50; alteration of pommel
Explanation
The best pummelers in the world are probably boxers, as to pummel means to repeatedly beat someone down, especially with fists. The main sense of pummel is physical, but you can use it figuratively when something is taking a beating. During a stock market crash, the economy is being pummeled. A heavy rain can pummel the earth. If you get three bad math grades in a row, it feels like numbers themselves are pummeling you. When many bad things happen at once, it feels like you're being pummeled by life.
Vocabulary lists containing pummel
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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.
See Examples For:
The film’s brilliance comes from Wain and Marino knowing how to pummel the viewer with jokes while measuring each punchline’s individual weight.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
A war that seemed primed to pummel emerging economies reliant on Middle East imports hasn’t done the same to their stock markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
The fast-developing storm is threatening to pummel the US East Coast with a foot or more of snow beginning Sunday, just weeks after the region recovered from another devastating weather system.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
This week, investors became very worried that rapidly-advancing AI capabilities offered by companies like Anthropic are going to pummel any company with services that include enterprise software.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
Gusts of air and seawater pummel the rocky shore.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
Search and rescue teams fan across Florida after Hurricane Milton strikes with storm surges up to 10 feet and 120 mph winds and pummels communities with deadly tornadoes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024
And severe weather pummels both the Northeast and West Coast.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
Lethal landslides are common in the area when heavy monsoon rain pummels Myanmar between May and October.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2023
The sheer force of their thousand-pound bodies pummels the dirt track's hazardous slings — but only after first funneling through the narrow cabling of their spindly forelimb ligaments.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2023
I assume she’s talking to me, but when she gets to us, she pummels right into Rhiannon.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
Rising interest rates pummeled bonds as stocks continued to chug along and favorable rule-making buoyed cryptocurrencies.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
The year after that, heavy rains pummeled the burn scar, burying buildings and vehicles under mud and debris.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Shares of the company have been pummeled by investors worried about the impact of AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Leveraged ETFs tied to chipmaker SK Hynix were pummeled Tuesday, amid a punishing selloff in semiconductor stocks this month as whiplash around the powerful artificial-intelligence trade continues.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
I'm even more tired and hungry than when I got off the train, and I’ve no desire to get pummeled like poor Jackson.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Ukraine's energy network, already pummelled by Russian attacks over more than four years of war, was buckling under the high temperatures on Monday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
The group pummelled the bot with more than 1,000 prompts to bypass the safeguards and convince Claude they were allowed to test the system for vulnerabilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2026
Fourth seed Amanda Anisimova pummelled doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova into submission on Thursday in a "crazy" Australian Open second-round clash.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
We saw that again against Chelsea, who pummelled them for an hour before Watkins came on to make it 11 Villa wins in a row.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
I felt as if I were being pummelled by a great fist.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Experts stress that the key is to start preparing before storms begin pummeling the region.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
He stepped down as chief executive in 2005 and left the board in 2015, but remains Lululemon’s largest individual investor and has been publicly pummeling the company from the sidelines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
With intense heat pummeling many parts of the world this summer, I tracked down Ed Ballard, who covers climate change and the energy transition, shvitzing in the U.K.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
It was powder-blue pummeling, eight-clap crushing, Westwood wonderful.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
He rambled on with this fraudulent recollection while Henry, pale and ill, endured his prods and backslaps as a well-trained dog will tolerate the pummeling of a rough child.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The heatwaves pummelling Europe this summer will have costly impacts on industries ranging from agriculture to tourism -- but that hasn't stopped stock markets from hitting all-time highs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Rohit reached his century in 84 balls and continued to harangue the England attack, pummelling the opposition with his trademark powerful pull shot.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The study only looked at data up to 2024, however Emerton said the heatwaves already pummelling Europe this year suggest the trend has been continuing.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
“Artificial Angels” captures the pummelling wrongness of internet-assisted living in 2025.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2025
Boys stood up and clapped frantically, not a few seizing their neighbours and pummelling them with clenched fists on the back.
From Tell England A Study in a Generation by Ernest Raymond
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.
