"pack a punch" meaning in English

See pack a punch in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: packs a punch [present, singular, third-person], packing a punch [participle, present], packed a punch [participle, past], packed a punch [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} pack a punch (third-person singular simple present packs a punch, present participle packing a punch, simple past and past participle packed a punch)
  1. (informal) To be capable of throwing a strong punch. Tags: informal Synonyms (able to throw a punch): pack a wallop
    Sense id: en-pack_a_punch-en-verb-0E6kdRGv Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of English predicates: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 51 49 Disambiguation of 'able to throw a punch': 82 18
  2. (informal) To be capable of having a swift and powerful effect. Tags: informal Synonyms (have a powerful effect): pack a wallop
    Sense id: en-pack_a_punch-en-verb-xRohC-l8 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of English predicates: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 51 49 Disambiguation of 'have a powerful effect': 5 95
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          "ref": "1930 June, Victor R. Daly, “Private Walker Goes Patrolling”, in The Crisis, volume 37, number 6, page 199:",
          "text": "Memphis Bill was known to pack a punch.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Mary Fitzpatrick, Lonely Planet East Africa, Lonely Planet, page 77:",
          "text": "If gorillas do fight, injuries can be very serious as these animals have long canine teeth and silverbacks pack a punch estimated at eight times stronger than a heavyweight boxer.",
          "type": "quote"
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        "(informal) To be capable of throwing a strong punch."
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          "ref": "1942, Robert Allen Griffin, School of the citizen soldier: adapted from the educational program of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Ben Lear, commanding, D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated, page 500:",
          "text": "They go in for statements, slogans, cartoons, pictures, and posters that \"pack a punch.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Ronald A. Berk, Professors are from Mars, students are from Snickers: how to write and deliver humor in the classroom and in professional presentations, Stylus Publishing, LLC., page 30:",
          "text": "Second, prepare the choices as one-liners. Each one should pack a punch and be so polished that it will jump off the screen into the minds of the audience and create a funny picture.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 May 18, Christopher Clarey, “Even as He’s Out, Rafael Nadal Will Always Be a Part of the French Open”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "It was a poignant scene that packed quite a punch with both champions — and plenty of observers — in tears as Federer called it a career.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be capable of having a swift and powerful effect."
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      "id": "en-pack_a_punch-en-verb-xRohC-l8",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) To be capable of having a swift and powerful effect."
      ],
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          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "sense": "have a powerful effect",
          "word": "pack a wallop"
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  "word": "pack a punch"
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          "ref": "1930 June, Victor R. Daly, “Private Walker Goes Patrolling”, in The Crisis, volume 37, number 6, page 199:",
          "text": "Memphis Bill was known to pack a punch.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Mary Fitzpatrick, Lonely Planet East Africa, Lonely Planet, page 77:",
          "text": "If gorillas do fight, injuries can be very serious as these animals have long canine teeth and silverbacks pack a punch estimated at eight times stronger than a heavyweight boxer.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        "To be capable of throwing a strong punch."
      ],
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        "(informal) To be capable of throwing a strong punch."
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          "text": "They go in for statements, slogans, cartoons, pictures, and posters that \"pack a punch.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Ronald A. Berk, Professors are from Mars, students are from Snickers: how to write and deliver humor in the classroom and in professional presentations, Stylus Publishing, LLC., page 30:",
          "text": "Second, prepare the choices as one-liners. Each one should pack a punch and be so polished that it will jump off the screen into the minds of the audience and create a funny picture.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 May 18, Christopher Clarey, “Even as He’s Out, Rafael Nadal Will Always Be a Part of the French Open”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "It was a poignant scene that packed quite a punch with both champions — and plenty of observers — in tears as Federer called it a career.",
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        }
      ],
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        "To be capable of having a swift and powerful effect."
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        "(informal) To be capable of having a swift and powerful effect."
      ],
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    {
      "sense": "able to throw a punch",
      "word": "pack a wallop"
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    {
      "sense": "have a powerful effect",
      "word": "pack a wallop"
    }
  ],
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}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.