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
Strikes continued to pummel targets in Iran on Sunday, at times stirring up the already emotional crowds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 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
Modest stock declines tend to make investors—and many pundits—fret that a catastrophic decline is about to pummel the market.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
These are all ways to be away, to set aside the images that scream and pummel.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
"So matter just pummels directly onto the surface, at very high speeds, like an asteroid hitting the Moon."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Now they say they have nowhere to hide from intense flooding as rainfall exacerbated by the weather phenomenon El Nino pummels large parts of Somalia.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 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
Sonia pummels the water with her arms and pushes it behind her with her legs.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
In Brighton, onlookers filmed as a section of the West Pier fell into the sea as it was pummeled by large waves.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
European businesses have lost market share in China over recent years and say they are being pummeled in their home market by low-cost Chinese products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 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
The country's third-largest city was pummeled by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Monday, along with swaths of Colombia's coffee region and western coast.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
He had pulled off his helmet and his neck roll and sat on the bench exhausted and almost stunned, his eyes puffy and nearly closed, as if someone had pummeled him in a fight.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
The Kospi, which was pummelled almost 19 percent on Tuesday and Wednesday before bouncing more than nine percent Thursday, shed 1.5 percent.
From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 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
Unusually intense monsoon rains pummelled parts of South and Southeast Asia in November and December, triggering landslides and floods from Indonesia's rainforests to highland plantations in Sri Lanka.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Meanwhile, parts of Western Australia were pummelled by Tropical Cyclone Luana over the weekend.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026
I’d looked at Kat’s little finger, and imagined Dad going around it, in miniature, stretched and pummelled into an odd-looking, living ring.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
High fuel prices are pummeling the freight sector.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
On a vast beach in Morocco last year, waves were pummeling one of humanity’s oldest plot devices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
San Antonio had built its mammoth lead with Wembanyama pummeling the Knicks inside and freeing up his teammates for wide-open looks from the perimeter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
At a Dr. Jack seminar held in a furniture store, Cheadle’s unrecognizable cameo competes with kids jumping on a couch and a spasmodic massage chair pummeling Corvette’s face.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
She brings her legs down hard into the water, sending waves pummeling over the bridges.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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
After pummelling a chain of remote Japanese islands, it brought heavy rainfall to Taiwan as it brushed past its northern tip.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 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
Although the conche is considered to have revolutionized the chocolate industry, it will remain to the uninitiated a curious sight to see a room full of machines engaged in pummelling chocolate day and night.
From Cocoa and Chocolate Their History from Plantation to Consumer by Arthur William Knapp
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