rabbit punch
1
9.3
- noun
- /ˈræbɪt pʌnʧ/
- Jargon
:
golpe por la espalda
- No clinches, no rabbit punches and please, no hitting below the belt.
And if I punch quickly, like a little rabbit punch the bun of your hair, it completely falls apart and you go, oh, man, so good to be back.
- And if I punch quickly, like a little rabbit punch the bun of your hair, it completely falls apart and you go, oh, man, so good to be back.
Examples
-
Now rabbit punch.
-
"I'm not above a rabbit punch or two if it'll get the job done."
Fiction book (2001) -
No low blows, no rabbit punches, in case of a knock down I want you to go to the neutral corner.
-
Not hard enough to leave a bruise, but it stung like a good rabbit punch.
Fiction book (1995) -
Watch the kidney punches, rabbit punches, those low blows, be careful with those, alright?
-
She gets me in a clench, popping me in the sides with rabbit punches, but not hard enough to hurt.
Fiction book (1993) -
The referee warned both fighters to avoid illegal moves, especially rabbit punches to the back of the neck.
-
During the match, he received an unexpected rabbit punch that left him stunned for a moment.
-
In boxing, a rabbit punch is considered illegal because it targets the vulnerable area at the back of the neck.
How Dangerous
Surface Forms
Morphology
rabbit + punch
The head noun 'punch' makes it clear to a B1 learner that this is a type of blow, so they would infer it denotes some kind of hit. However, the modifier 'rabbit' does not transparently indicate the specific target (the back of the neck) or the illicit, chopping quality of the strike, so the full, sport-specific meaning is not predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Rabbit punch may come from hunters who used a quick strike to the back of a rabbit's neck to kill it; that short, sharp punch to that spot is the image behind the name. That's why the term now means a sudden, often 'illegal' blow to the back of the neck in boxing and fighting.