punch line
/ˈpʌntʃˌlaɪn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.29 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The final part of a joke; the word, sentence, or exchange of sentences that is intended to be funny and provokes laughter from the listeners.
noun
The butt of a joke; laughing stock.
noun
A final, concluding statement that an explanation has been leading up to; a conclusion.
Example Sentences
- "That was quite a build-up for such a puny punch line."
- "While explaining a punchline might initially kill the joke, Roberts claims it can shed light on the use of humour in language and help students remember the gag for future use."
- "The women are a phenomenon; the men are a punchline."
- "(It didn’t help when Microsoft relaunched its Bing search engine with OpenAI’s technology inside, instantly ending Bing’s decade-long run as a punchline.)"
- "The final, the Munich-based liberal newspaper writes, was a “fitting punchline” to a great tournament."