as in fisticuffs
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Recent Examples of punch-up
Often, when shows do crossovers, the writers on one will do punch-up for their characters on the other.
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Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2025
Toward the end there’s a punch-up, with several players involved.
—David Szalay, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2024
Of the new cast additions, only Ayoade is doing anything funny, but Xeni’s pretentious banter could have used a writerly punch-up from somebody like Richard Ayoade.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Airline crew could not run the risk of a full-scale punch-up at 30,000ft.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
Writers didn’t want to do punch-ups on potentially crummy AI scripts or have their words (or ideas) cannibalized by large language models that didn’t pay them a dime.
—Marah Eakin, WIRED, 17 Oct. 2024
Reynolds apparently did punch-up on a balcony scene in the movie (though some counter those lines are also in 2016 Hoover novel).
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2024
What was supposed to be a quick punch-up gig for a two-week Encores!
—Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2024
Live, the band’s synth-pop got an indie rock punch-up, eliciting a melodic, staccato vocal tic in singer Sammy Elfanbaum akin to a young Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2024
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2025
Toward the end there’s a punch-up, with several players involved.
—David Szalay, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2024
Of the new cast additions, only Ayoade is doing anything funny, but Xeni’s pretentious banter could have used a writerly punch-up from somebody like Richard Ayoade.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Airline crew could not run the risk of a full-scale punch-up at 30,000ft.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
Writers didn’t want to do punch-ups on potentially crummy AI scripts or have their words (or ideas) cannibalized by large language models that didn’t pay them a dime.
—Marah Eakin, WIRED, 17 Oct. 2024
Reynolds apparently did punch-up on a balcony scene in the movie (though some counter those lines are also in 2016 Hoover novel).
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2024
What was supposed to be a quick punch-up gig for a two-week Encores!
—Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2024
Live, the band’s synth-pop got an indie rock punch-up, eliciting a melodic, staccato vocal tic in singer Sammy Elfanbaum akin to a young Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punch-up
Noun
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Big fistfight—red faces and people trying to pull their shirts off.Frank DiGiacomo, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
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Naturally, there's plenty of dysfunction as confessions are made, a turkey is flung across the table, a football game leads to a fistfight, and Claudia tries to maintain her sanity.Gwen Ihnat, EW.com, 23 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Well, that many people reportedly tried to watch it, but due to the crush of interest and tune-ins, many reported experiencing buffering problems and glitches that interrupted what turned out to be a surprisingly banal slugfest.Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 22 Nov. 2024
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Sweeney had been looking to add physicality to the team and Thursday’s slugfest with Toronto confirmed that was an area which needed to be addressed.Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
Noun
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This heated confrontation quickly escalated, and soon after, a match between the two was officially announced for January 11, 2025, at an upcoming ROW event.George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024
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But Washington’s refusal to let Seoul act on its concerns now sets the allies up for an unnecessary confrontation.Robert E. Kelly, Foreign Affairs, 30 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Florida has a tremendous opportunity to respond to its first defeat of the season, a 106-100 melee at Kentucky.Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
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By turning Doomguy into a knight wielding a gigantic, spiked shield a huge sword primed for brutal melee takedowns.Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The hard-throwing lefty dominated across 72 appearances (72.0 innings), notching a 1.75 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 84 punch-outs.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2024
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Asus chose to have a punch-out camera and obscure part of the screen rather than mount it in a larger bezel, which shows how form has come ahead of function.Ewan Spence, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
Noun
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At least four others were injured during the shooting rampage in the western town of Cetinje on Wednesday, which authorities say began after a bar brawl.Dan Perry, Newsweek, 2 Jan. 2025
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Coming out of the brutal men’s bathroom brawl, which left Thanos and four others dead, Team X did a quick recount to determine which side (truly) lost more votes.Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 27 Dec. 2024
Noun
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In fact, isolating it to just the defensive third, their 69.1 per cent aerial duel and 65.1 per cent ground duel success is the highest by a team in any Premier League season since 2018-19.Liam Tharme, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
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From an opening scene on the high seas as a French merchant ship is aflame to a stag hunt on an aristocratic estate to a pistol duel at dawn, the writer-directors capture the scope and grandeur of Dumas’ story.Scott Phillips, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near punch-up
Cite this Entry
“Punch-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punch-up. Accessed 14 Jan. 2025.
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