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Glite Dictionary
to spike the punch

to spike the punch

3 8.0
Put alcohol into a drink like punch without telling people
  • phrasal verb
  • /spaɪk ðə pʌnʧ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : echarle alcohol al ponche (informal, ofensivo)
  • Come on, let's go spike the punch.

Examples

  • At the party, someone decided to spike the punch with vodka, surprising all the guests.

  • Maybe just spike the punch!

    Blog text (4)

  • We tend to spike the punch.

    The Roommate (2011)

  • Gentlemen, let's spike the punch.

    The Hollywood Knights (1980)

  • She secretly spiked the punch with rum to make the gathering more fun.

  • Before the guests arrived, he planned to spike the punch to keep it exciting.

Synonyms

to lace
vsto spike the punch
  • NSFW
47 7.7

To secretly add alcohol or drugs to a drink

is narrower, used for nonalcoholic party drinks rather than food or other substances
to spike
vsto spike the punch
  • NSFW
40 7.2

To put alcohol into a drink secretly

is narrower, used for nonalcoholic party drinks rather than any drink

Surface Forms

spike the punch infinitive
spiked the punch past
spiked the punch past participle
spiking the punch present participle
spikes the punch third person singular

Morphology

spike + the + punch

The verb 'spike' (to lace a drink with alcohol) combined with 'punch' (a mixed beverage) directly yields the meaning 'add alcohol to the punch', and the article 'the' does not change composition. This is a compositional, cross-linguistically familiar pattern (to lace/contaminate a drink), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The verb spike the punch comes from the image of someone secretly pouring strong alcohol into a bowl of punch at a party so guests do not know. So, spike here means 'to add alcohol to a non-alcoholic punch, often without telling people'.