Sunday punch

American  

noun

1. Boxing. the most powerful and effective punch of a boxer, especially the punch used in trying to gain a knockout.

2. anything, as an armed force, line of argument, etc., capable of inflicting a powerful blow on a hostile or opposing person or thing.

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Sunday punch British  

noun

1. boxing a heavy blow intended to knock out one's opponent

2. any manoeuvre or action intended to crush an opponent

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Etymology

Origin of Sunday punch

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

The takeaway: During your driver fitting don’t just focus on the distance number you get with your Sunday punch.

From Golf Digest • Jan. 2, 2020

This is the designation for an experimental missile that could, in the mid-1980s, become the Sunday punch of the U.S. arsenal.

From Time Magazine Archive

For a few moments one morning last week, Secretary of Labor Maurice Tobin acted like the man who was all prepared to deliver the Administration's Sunday punch at Joe McCarthy.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the middle of a nation pursuing a faraway war in a faraway mood, a tough, hard-driving Air Force bombardment expert had tirelessly trained the Sunday punch to battle fitness.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rick rolled away from it, watching the left that was cocked for a Sunday punch.

From The Electronic Mind Reader by Blaine, John