Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

punchbowl

British  
/ ˈpʌntʃˌbəʊl /

noun

  1. a large bowl for serving punch, lemonade, etc, usually with a ladle and often having small drinking glasses hooked around the rim

  2. a bowl-shaped depression in the land

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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:

Office workers being tossed around their workplaces; cars bobbing in the surf like ice cubes in a punchbowl; skyscrapers waving like reeds in the wind.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 5, 2026

Former Federal Reserve Chair William McChesney Martin said the role of the central bank was to take away the punchbowl just as the party gets going.

From Barron's Feb. 2, 2026

Once former captain Shane Doan and Jeremy Roenick dropped the ceremonial puck, the Predators dumped over the punchbowl at their going-away party.

From Seattle Times Apr. 29, 2022

Markets need to trust that the Fed is willing to take the punchbowl away if necessary.

From Washington Post Jan. 10, 2022

As you came nearer, however, and examined the painting more closely, you saw that in reality he was squeezing a lemon into a punchbowl!

From Sowing and Reaping by Moody, Dwight Lyman

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training