punch down

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English

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Verb

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punch down (third-person singular simple present punches down, present participle punching down, simple past and past participle punched down)

  1. (intransitive, slang) To attack or target a group that is weaker or of lower status than oneself.
    Antonym: punch up
    • 2021 January 30, Nick Cohen, “Anti-vaxxers posing as victims has a history. Look at Andrew Wakefield”, in The Guardian[1]:
      The anti-vaxx movement punches down and punches hard. Its leaders tend to be men and women from wealthy backgrounds. [] They draw a large part of their audience from the poor, the poorly educated and ethnic minorities.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see punch,‎ down.

Derived terms

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