pummel
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Super Bowl Blowout: Epic Vocab for the Big Game
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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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.
A version of this article appeared May 22, 2012, on page A1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Investors Pummel Facebook.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2012
Pummel thy pumkin, and a tell me that, Peter Grievous.
From Anna St. Ives by Holcroft, Thomas
You would never catch Pummel in an interjection of surprise.
From Impressions of Theophrastus Such by Eliot, George
"So I suppose, sir," says Pummel; "I've see it with a gh, but I've noways give into that myself."
From Impressions of Theophrastus Such by Eliot, George
"What is the cause of the tides, Pummel?"
From Impressions of Theophrastus Such by Eliot, George
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.
