punch line
noun
the climactic phrase or sentence in a joke, speech, advertisement, or humorous story that produces the desired effect.
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Nearby words
punch biopsy, punch bowl, punch card, punch graft, punch in, punch line, punch list, punch out, punch press, punch spoon, punch-and-judy show
Origin of punch line
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for punch line
Watch them make off like punch-line bandits during this “Joke Off” at a mini-SNL reunion last year.
Golden Globes Hosts Tina Fey & Amy Poehler’s Funniest Moments (Video)|Kevin Fallon|January 12, 2014|DAILY BEASTInstead, Kennedy took the punch-line for himself and applied the loud laughs he earned as an inoculation against a poisonous idea.
He began to hold back slyly, like a comedian building up the tension before a punch-line.
The Fourth R|George Oliver Smith
British Dictionary definitions for punch line
punch line
noun
the culminating part of a joke, funny story, etc, that gives it its humorous or dramatic point
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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