punch in
Idioms-
Also, . Check in at a job upon arrival, as in You have to punch in or you won't get paid , or In this office no one has to punch a clock . This usage alludes to the use of a time clock, which has a button an employee punches or strikes to record the time of arrival on a card. [1920s] Also see punch out , def. 1.
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Keyboard data into a computer, as in He was careful about punching in all the payments . [Mid-1900s]
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.
“I had prepared for a denial,” Hassan said, “but seeing those words in writing felt like a punch in the heart.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
Their first fight in Sheffield had Warrington comfortably in control until a decisive Wood punch in the seventh round ended the contest.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
Tyson barely landed a punch in that Netflix-backed bout, which was watched by a live crowd of around 70,000 spectators with an estimated millions more tuning in around the world.
From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026
If the idea was to de-ice Melania for viewers and, in turn, make them forget about the allegations against Ratner, this one-two punch in the film’s first 10 minutes only portends glorious failure.
From Salon • Feb. 1, 2026
The program asks the user to punch in a set of coordinates and then draws the line from those coordinates on the screen.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
