Strike vs. Punch — What's the Difference?

To hit sharply, as with a hand, fist, weapon, or implement

A tool for circular or other piercing

To inflict (a blow).

A tool for forcing a pin, bolt, or rivet in or out of a hole.

To penetrate or pierce

A tool for stamping a design on a surface.

To collide with or crash into

A tool for making a countersink.

To cause to come into violent or forceful contact

A blow with the fist.

To thrust (a weapon, for example) in or into someone or something

Impressive or effective force; impact.

To damage or destroy, as by forceful contact

A beverage of fruit juices and sometimes a soft drink or carbonated water, often spiced and mixed with a wine or liquor base.

To make a military attack on; assault.

The quarrelsome hook-nosed husband of Judy in the comic puppet show Punch and Judy.

To afflict suddenly, as with a disease or impairment

To make (a hole or opening), as by using a punch or similar implement.

To cause to become suddenly in a certain way

To make a hole in (something), as by using a punch

To snap at or seize (a bait).

To pierce something; make a hole or opening

To hook (a fish that has taken the bait) by a pull on the line.

To hit with a sharp blow of the fist.

To wound by biting. Used especially of a snake.

To drive (the fist) into or through something.

To form by stamping, printing, or punching

To drive (a ball, for example) with the fist.

To produce or play by manipulating strings or keys

To make (a hole) by thrusting the fist.

To indicate by a percussive or chiming sound

(Archaic) To poke or prod with a stick.

To produce as if by playing a musical instrument

Western US To herd (cattle).

To produce by friction or a blow

To depress (the accelerator of a car) forcefully.

To produce flame, light, or a spark by friction

To depress (a key or button, for example) in order to activate a device or perform an operation

To remove or separate suddenly, as with a blow

To enter (data) by keying

To eliminate or expunge

(Baseball) To hit (a ball) with a quick short swing.

To come upon (a mineral deposit) by effort; discover

(countable) A hit or strike with one's fist.

To come to; reach or attain

A blow from something other than the fist.

To fall upon; shine on

(uncountable) Power, strength, energy.

To become audible to

(uncountable) Impact.

To affect keenly or forcibly; impress

(countable) A device, generally slender and round, used for creating holes in thin material, for driving an object through a hole in a containing object, or to stamp or emboss a mark or design on a surface.

To enter the mind of

(countable) A mechanism for punching holes in paper or other thin material.

To cause (a strong emotion) to penetrate deeply

(countable) A hole or opening created with a punch.

To affect or overcome with strong emotion

(piledriving) An extension piece applied to the top of a pile; a dolly.

To make and confirm the terms of (a bargain).

A prop, as for the roof of a mine.

To achieve (a balance, for example) by careful consideration.

A beverage, generally containing a mixture of fruit juice and some other beverage, often alcoholic.

To position one's body in (a pose, for example); assume.

(entomology) Any of various riodinid butterflies of the genus Dodona of Asia.

To haul down (a mast or sail).

(transitive) To strike with one's fist.

To lower (a flag or sail) in salute or surrender.

To herd.

To lower (cargo) into a hold.

(transitive) To operate (a device or system) by depressing a button, key, bar, or pedal, or by similar means.

To remove (theatrical properties, a set, or technical equipment) from a stage.

(transitive) To enter (information) on a device or system.

To dismantle and pack up for departure

(transitive) To hit (a ball or similar object) with less than full force.

To undertake a strike against (an employer).

(transitive) To make holes in something rail ticket, leather belt, etc

To level or even (a measure, as of grain).

To thrust against; to poke.

To smooth or shape with a strickle.

Ellipsis of punch above one's weight, to date somebody more attractive than oneself.

To send (plant roots) out or down.

(transitive) In winemaking, to perform pigeage: to stamp down grape skins that float to the surface during fermentation.

To cause (a plant cutting) to take root.

To employ a punch to create a hole in or stamp or emboss a mark on something.

To deal a blow or blows, as with the fist or a weapon; hit.

To mark a ticket.

To aim a stroke or blow

A beverage composed of wine or distilled liquor, water (or milk), sugar, and the juice of lemon, with spice or mint; - specifically named from the kind of spirit used; as rum punch, claret punch, champagne punch, etc.

To make contact suddenly or violently; collide

The buffoon or harlequin of a puppet show.

To begin a military attack

A short, fat fellow; anything short and thick.

(Sports) To score a goal

One of a breed of large, heavy draught horses; as, the Suffolk punch.

To penetrate or pierce

A thrust or blow.

To take bait

A tool, usually of steel, variously shaped at one end for different uses, and either solid, for stamping or for perforating holes in metallic plates and other substances, or hollow and sharpedged, for cutting out blanks, as for buttons, steel pens, jewelry, and the like; a die.

To dart or shoot suddenly forward in an attempt to inflict a bite or wound. Used of snakes and wild animals.

An extension piece applied to the top of a pile; a dolly.

To set out or proceed, especially in a new direction

A prop, as for the roof of a mine.

To begin to move

To thrust against; to poke; as, to punch one with the end of a stick or the elbow.

To send out roots.

To perforate or stamp with an instrument by pressure, or a blow; as, to punch a hole; to punch ticket.

To sprout.

(boxing) a blow with the fist;

To indicate the time by making a percussive or chiming sound

An iced mixed drink usually containing alcohol and prepared for multiple servings; normally served in a punch bowl

To become indicated by a percussive or chiming sound

A tool for making (usually circular) holes

To become ignited.

Deliver a quick blow to;

To discover something suddenly or unexpectedly

Drive forcibly as if by a punch;

To fall, as light or sound

Make a hole into or between, as for ease of separation;

To have an effect; make an impression.

To engage in a strike against an employer.

To interrupt by pushing oneself forward

To strive diligently for a specific technical rating in the US Navy.

An act or gesture of striking.

An attack, especially a military air attack on a single group of targets.

(Sports) A scoring attempt, often resulting in a goal.

A cessation of work by employees in support of demands made on their employer, as for higher pay or improved conditions.

A temporary stoppage of normal activity undertaken as a protest.

A sudden achievement or valuable discovery, as of a precious mineral.

The taking of bait by a fish.

A pull on a fishing line indicating this.

A quantity of coins or medals struck at the same time.

(Baseball) A pitched ball that is counted against the batter, typically one that is swung at and missed, fouled off, or judged to have passed through the strike zone.

A perfectly thrown ball

An unfavorable condition, circumstance, or characteristic; a disadvantage

The knocking down of all the pins in bowling with the first bowl of a frame.

The score so made.

The taking root and growing of a plant cutting.

(Geology) The course or bearing of a structural surface, such as an inclined bed, as it intersects a horizontal plane.

The removal of all properties, sets, and technical equipment following a final performance, as of a play or concert.

A strickle.

A device serving the functions of a strike plate, especially one that can be electronically released to allow access.

To delete or cross out; to scratch or eliminate.

(physical) To have a sharp or sudden effect.

(transitive) To hit.

(transitive) To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast.

(intransitive) To deliver a quick blow or thrust; to give blows.

(transitive) To manufacture, as by stamping.

To run upon a rock or bank; to be stranded; to run aground.

(transitive) To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or notify by audible strokes. Of a clock, to announce (an hour of the day), usually by one or more sounds.

(intransitive) To sound by percussion, with blows, or as if with blows.

(transitive) To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a stroke.

(transitive) To cause to ignite by friction.

(transitive) To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate.

To have a sharp or severe effect.

(transitive) To punish; to afflict; to smite.

(intransitive) To carry out a violent or illegal action.

(intransitive) To act suddenly, especially in a violent or criminal way.

To impinge upon.

(intransitive) To stop working as a protest to achieve better working conditions.

To quit (one's job).

(transitive) To impress, seem or appear (to).

(transitive) To create an impression.

(sports) To score a goal.

To make a sudden impression upon, as if by a blow; to affect with some strong emotion.

To affect by a sudden impression or impulse.

To steal or rob; to take forcibly or fraudulently.

To borrow money from; to make a demand upon.

To touch; to act by appulse.

(transitive) To take down, especially in the following contexts.

(nautical) To haul down or lower (a flag, mast, etc.)

(by extension) To capitulate; to signal a surrender by hauling down the colours.

To dismantle and take away (a theater set; a tent; etc.).

To unfasten, to loosen (chains, bonds, etc.).

(intransitive) To set off on a walk or trip.

(intransitive) To pass with a quick or strong effect; to dart; to penetrate.

(dated) To break forth; to commence suddenly; with into.

(intransitive) To become attached to something; said of the spat of oysters.

To make and ratify.

To level (a measure of grain, salt, etc.) with a straight instrument, scraping off what is above the level of the top.

(masonry) To cut off (a mortar joint, etc.) even with the face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.

To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly.

To lade thickened sugar cane juice from a teache into a cooler.

To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.

(obsolete) To advance; to cause to go forward; used only in the past participle.

To balance (a ledger or account).

To discover a source of something, often a buried raw material such as ore (especially gold) or crude oil.

(baseball) A status resulting from a batter swinging and missing a pitch, or not swinging at a pitch when the ball goes in the strike zone, or hitting a foul ball that is not caught.

(bowling) The act of knocking down all ten pins in on the first roll of a frame.

A work stoppage (or otherwise concerted stoppage of an activity) as a form of protest.

A blow or application of physical force against something.

(finance) In an option contract, the price at which the holder buys or sells if they choose to exercise the option.

(historical) An old English measure of corn equal to the bushel.

(cricket) The status of being the batsman that the bowler is bowling at.

The primary face of a hammer, opposite the peen.

(geology) The compass direction of the line of intersection between a rock layer and the surface of the Earth.

An instrument with a straight edge for levelling a measure of grain, salt, etc., scraping off what is above the level of the top; a strickle.

(obsolete) Fullness of measure; the whole amount produced at one time.

Excellence; quality.

An iron pale or standard in a gate or fence.

(ironworking) A puddler's stirrer.

(obsolete) The extortion of money, or the attempt to extort money, by threat of injury; blackmail.

The discovery of a source of something.

The strike plate of a door.

(fishing) A nibble on the bait by a fish.

(philately) A cancellation postmark.

To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either with the hand or with any instrument or missile.

To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship struck a reef.

To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast.

To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint.

To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep.

To punish; to afflict; to smite.

To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve; the drums strike up a march.

To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch.

To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind, with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or horror.

To affect in some particular manner by a sudden impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me favorably; to strike one dead or blind.

To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a stroke; as, to strike a light.

To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match.

To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain.

To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money.

To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the level of the top.

To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.

To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a strange word; they soon struck the trail.

To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck a friend for five dollars.

To lade into a cooler, as a liquor.

To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.

To advance; to cause to go forward; - used only in past participle.

To move; to advance; to proceed; to take a course; as, to strike into the fields.

To deliver a quick blow or thrust; to give blows.

To hit; to collide; to dush; to clash; as, a hammer strikes against the bell of a clock.

To sound by percussion, with blows, or as with blows; to be struck; as, the clock strikes.

To make an attack; to aim a blow.

To touch; to act by appulse.

To run upon a rock or bank; to be stranded; as, the ship struck in the night.

To pass with a quick or strong effect; to dart; to penetrate.

To break forth; to commence suddenly; - with into; as, to strike into reputation; to strike into a run.

To lower a flag, or colors, in token of respect, or to signify a surrender of a ship to an enemy.

To quit work in order to compel an increase, or prevent a reduction, of wages.

To become attached to something; - said of the spat of oysters.

To steal money.

The act of striking.

An instrument with a straight edge for leveling a measure of grain, salt, and the like, scraping off what is above the level of the top; a strickle.

A bushel; four pecks.

An old measure of four bushels.

Fullness of measure; hence, excellence of quality.

An iron pale or standard in a gate or fence.

The act of quitting work; specifically, such an act by a body of workmen, usually organized by a labor union, done as a means of enforcing compliance with demands made on their employer.

A puddler's stirrer.

The horizontal direction of the outcropping edges of tilted rocks; or, the direction of a horizontal line supposed to be drawn on the surface of a tilted stratum. It is at right angles to the dip.

The extortion of money, or the attempt to extort money, by threat of injury; blackmailing.

A sudden finding of rich ore in mining; hence, any sudden success or good fortune, esp. financial.

The act of leveling all the pins with the first bowl; also, the score thus made. Sometimes called double spare. Throwing a strike entitles the player to add to the score for that frame the total number of pins knocked down in the next two bowls.

Any actual or constructive striking at the pitched ball, three of which, if the ball is not hit fairly, cause the batter to be put out; hence, any of various acts or events which are ruled as equivalent to such a striking, as failing to strike at a ball so pitched that the batter should have struck at it.

Same as Ten-strike.

A group's refusal to work in protest against low pay or bad work conditions;

An attack that is intended to seize or inflict damage on or destroy an objective;

A pitch that is in the strike zone and that the batter does not hit;

A gentle blow

A score in tenpins: knocking down all ten with the first ball;

A conspicuous success;

Hit against; come into sudden contact with;

Deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon;

Have an emotional or cognitive impact upon;

Make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target;

Indicate (a certain time) by striking;

Affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely;

Stop work in order to press demands;

Touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly;

Attain;

Produce by manipulating keys or strings of musical instruments, also metaphorically;

Cause to form between electrodes of an arc lamp;

Find unexpectedly;

Produce by ignition or a blow;

Remove by erasing or crossing out;

Cause to experience suddenly;

Drive something violently into a location;

Occupy or take on;

Form by stamping, punching, or printing;

Smooth with a strickle;

Pierce with force;

Arrive at after reckoning, deliberating, and weighing;