Record one's time of departure from work, as in We never punch out at exactly five o'clock . This usage, dating from the 1920s, alludes to the use of a time clock. Also see punch in , def. 1.
a small section of cardboard or metal surrounded by perforations so that it can be easily forced out.
Slang. a fistfight or brawl.
Baseball. the air-punching gesture an umpire makes to denote a third strike, effectively ending the batter’s at-bat.
Stein didn’t develop his signature punch-out until his third season umpiring in the minors.
Record one's time of departure from work, as in We never punch out at exactly five o'clock . This usage, dating from the 1920s, alludes to the use of a time clock. Also see punch in , def. 1.
Eject from a military aircraft, as in The pilot punched out just before the plane blew up . [ Slang ; 1960s]
First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase punch out
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And the box, also unchanged since the beginning, features a punch-out spout that can cause a bit of a mess.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2024
But Bieber buckled down and got two outs before striking out Christian Bethancourt, the right-hander’s third punch-out to end an inning.
From Washington Times • Oct. 7, 2022
But the punch-out method made it difficult to craft an aesthetically pleasing, natural-looking hairline upon transplantation.
From Slate • Jul. 12, 2022
In the fifth inning, with a punch-out of first baseman Eric Hosmer, Scherzer joined baseball’s 3,000-strikeout club.
From New York Times • Sep. 12, 2021
“That was kind of another wet game. I just remember Hanser had two punch-out force fumbles. I recovered one of them on their sideline.”
From Seattle Times • Nov. 23, 2018
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.
