punching bag

noun

1. an inflated or stuffed bag, usually suspended, punched with the fists as an exercise.

2. Informal.,  a person serving as an object of abuse; scapegoat.

   I told him that I wasn't going to be a punching bag for anyone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of punching bag¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Because horror is a genre built on excess, it’s also an easy punching bag.

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Whatever maternal feelings she has for her other children are missing when it comes to Gish, who becomes her mother’s scapegoat and punching bag.

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Hatton's parents made a small gym in the basement of their pub when he was 12, and it was there that he honed his skills on a punching bag.

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He was a favorite punching bag of the mainstream media, a slovenly suburban Ahab doomed to fail.

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The house itself boasted a gym with a punching bag and a games room where he could play pool and table football.

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