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Glite Dictionary
🥊 A fistfight ✍️ Script improvement
punch-up

punch-up

1 7.8
A physical fight where people hit each other with fists
  • noun
  • /ˈpʌnʧ ʌp/
  • NSFW
translation icon : pelea
  • But years ago I didn't have the tolerance for people like that, you know, So it always ended up in a punch up or whatever.
  • a good punch-up

So every weekend you was guaranteed a punch up with these Northerners, Midlanders, whatever.

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Examples

  • It just embroils him in a punch-up, and an ugly one.

    Blog text (4)

  • I got a big punch up at school and got suspended.

  • So every weekend you was guaranteed a punch up with these Northerners, Midlanders, whatever.

    Anything Goes With James English

  • The two friends got into a heated punch-up after a disagreement at the party.

  • A punch-up broke out between rival fans outside the stadium.

  • The school had to intervene when a punch-up erupted during recess.

Synonyms

brawl
vspunch-up
60 4.6

A noisy, violent fight among a group in a public place

is usually a smaller two-person fight focused on fists rather than crowd chaos
bout
vspunch-up
50 4.1

A short fight or contest, often in boxing

is an informal street fight between people using hands not a contest
throwdown
vspunch-up
  • NSFW
1 8.1

A sudden intense physical fight that often becomes violent

is a smaller hand-to-hand fight focused on blows with fists

Antonyms

resolution
199 3.7

Solving a problem or ending a disagreement

How Violent

melee
19 8.4
brawl
60 4.6
punch-up
  • NSFW
1 7.8
to fight
∞ 1.0
scuffle
25 3.7

Surface Forms

punch-up singular
punch-ups plural

Morphology

punch-up = punch + up (transparent) = punch + up

The noun derives straightforwardly from the phrasal verb 'punch up' (punch + up) meaning an exchange of punches; learners who know 'punch' and the particle 'up' can infer a physical fight.

Etymology

Punch-up comes from the simple word punch 'to hit' plus the ending -up that makes the action stronger, so a punch-up is a sudden fight where people hit each other with their fists.