Paunch

//pɔːnt͡ʃ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The first compartment of the stomach of a ruminant, the rumen.
  2. 2
    a protruding abdomen wordnet
  3. 3
    The contents of this stomach in a slaughtered animal, viewed as food or a byproduct.
  4. 4
    The belly of a human, especially a large, fat protruding one.

    "See also: pooch"

  5. 5
    A paunch mat.
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    The thickened rim of a bell, struck by the clapper.
Verb
  1. 1
    To remove the internal organs of a ruminant, prior to eating.

    "(Caliban) Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him I' th' afternoon to sleep: there thou may'st brain him, Having first seiz'd his books; or with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, Or cut his wezand with thy knife"

Synonyms

All synonyms
bellypotbellyabdomenabomasumbay windowbay window

Example

More examples

"Around the corner comes a paunch. The owner is right behind."

Etymology

From Middle English paunche, from Old Northern French panche, Old French pance (French panse), from Latin pantex.

Related phrases

air one's paunchpaunch mat

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.