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Glite Dictionary
to pound the table

to pound the table

3 7.4
To hit a table with your hand to demand action or get attention
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : golpear la mesa
  • She felt frustrated during the meeting and decided to pound the table to make her point clear.
  • pounded the table with his fist
  • cried and pounded the table
  • pounded the table hard

It's so freaking obvious, but whatever, I'll just keep pounding the table and people can do whatever they want anyway.

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Examples

  • The girl shook her head and pounded the table.

    Blog text (15)

  • He drinks alcoholic beverages, he smokes cigarettes, and he associates with women of questionable character! While he shouted, he pounded the table for emphasis.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • At that, they all broke down and began to pound the table.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The man pounded the table with his right hand, which I was forced to lift.

    Academic text (2007)

  • GONZO says nothing for a moment, then pounds the table!

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Tolya pounded the table with his fist.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Barlow was probably busy pounding the table downstairs, shouting "Intellectual Property is not Property" as he is wont to do.

    Blog text (10)

  • Tom is pounding the table on energy and the environment, accusing those who oppose his pet legislation of wishing a dreadful calamity upon mankind.

    Blog text (21)

  • For those of you that don't know this, for the past three weeks, fund manager Doug Kass has essentially been pounding the table, arguing that Apple's stock price has peaked and is no longer a viable long-term investment.

    Blog text (27)

  • The coach began to pound the table to demand more focus from the players during practice.

Synonyms

to strike
vsto pound the table
553 2.4

To hit someone or something with force

is used as a gesture to demand action rather than as attack
to slap
vsto pound the table
492 1.0

Hit quickly with the flat part of the hand

is used to hit a surface to demand action rather than punish
to punch
vsto pound the table
455 1.4

To hit someone or something quickly with a closed fist

is used as a deliberate gesture to demand attention rather than to injure
to pound
vsto pound the table
225 1.3

To hit something again and again very hard

is used to demand attention by striking a surface, not to injure
to smack
vsto pound the table
164 3.5

To hit someone or something with an open hand

is used to make a loud point and demand action, not to attack
to strike hard
vsto pound the table
3 3.7

Hit someone or something very hard

is performed to demand attention, not primarily to wound someone
to wallop
vsto pound the table
  • Informal
2 7.3

To hit something or someone very hard

is done to force attention or action rather than to simply hurt
to clout
vsto pound the table
  • Informal
1 7.4

To hit someone or something hard with the fist

is a forceful act aimed at getting attention, not only to injure
to give a whap
vsto pound the table
  • Informal
8.8

To hit something quickly with a short, sharp blow

is used to demand attention rather than to cause injury

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to dismiss
332 3.0

To refuse to accept an idea or claim

How Forceful

to pound the table
3 7.4
to demand
943 2.7
to insist
∞ 2.8
to ask
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

pound the table infinitive
pounded the table past
pounded the table past participle
pounding the table present participle
pounds the table third person singular

Morphology

pound + the + table

The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'pound' (to strike repeatedly) + 'table' (a flat surface) yields the action of striking a table to emphasize a point. This physical action naturally conveys demanding attention or forceful emphasis and is a cross-linguistically common gesture, so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Pound the table comes from the image of someone using their hand to pound a table so people stop and listen, often in anger or frustration. That's why it now means 'to demand attention or action forcefully'.