one-two punch

Related to one-two punch: heaping, the likes of, take into account, stand pat, lined up

one-two punch

1. In boxing, two quick hits to one's opponent in rapid succession. The boxer's one-two punch was feared by his opponents in the ring.
2. Two negative events that happen at the same time or in rapid succession. My electricity being shut off the same day I lost my job was a terrible one-two punch.
See also: punch

the old one-two (punch)

1. Two quick punches delivered to one's opponent in rapid succession, one coming from each hand. The boxer's put his opponent in a daze with a flurry of punches, then brought him down to the mat with the old one-two. The guy refused to leave us alone, so I gave him the old one-two and shut him up for good.
2. Two actions, events, strategies, people, etc., that work in combination to deliver a very effective or powerful result. The two lawyers have become the one-two punch of the firm, bringing a perfect combination of abilities to tackle any case. The storm is predicted to bring the old-one two—devastating winds and a deluge of rainfall.
See also: old
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • the old one-two (punch)
  • battle of the giants
  • chalk and cheese
  • between two fires
  • (one, two, three) strikes against (someone or something)
  • cling together
  • come together
  • be in two places at once
  • at each other's throats
  • be at each other's throats
References in periodicals archive
The team reasons that combining these natural toxins with man-made mirror drugs will create the drug equivalent of a one-two punch. The combination should "confuse" bacteria and cancer and prevent them from rapidly becoming resistant to the man-made drugs.
Shan Bilimoria of the Texas Tech University said the bees might be taking a one-two punch from both an insect virus and a fungus, which may be causing bees to die off by the billions.
With the Midwest trying to recover from devastating rains and the Gulf Coast still struggling to recover from the lethal one-two punch delivered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita two years ago, the threat of flooding to life and property has been much in the news.
In fact, what probably happened was a one-two punch," he says, invoking both climate and human hunters.
But perhaps no one epitomizes the 'one-two punch' tag better than former Los Angeles Lakers teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who dominated the league in the early 2000s en route to three consecutive NBA titles.
The study, not only explains resveratrol's one-two punch on inflammation, but also show how it-or a derivative-can be used to treat potentially deadly inflammatory disease, such as appendicitis, peritonitis, and systemic sepsis.
About 70 percent of cancer patients report that the one-two punch of a malignancy and aggressive treatment saps their strength and energy.
Most Valuable Player Marck Espejo and Finals MVP Tony Koyfman proved to be Ateneo's one-two punch, both unloading 15 points in the victory.
A few days later, the ballooning cloud landed a one-two punch on the planet's magnetic field, jacking up the intensity of high-energy electrons in Earth's radiation belts.
Well, it's happened now-in a strong one-two punch that has gotten people's avid attention.
It takes a one-two punch to knock out many human genes.
Heralded by many as the best one-two punch of the post '90s era, O'Neal and Bryant dominated the competition-each scoring at a 20-point-plus clip most nights.
The one-two punch from the outgoing and incoming shock waves leads to much brighter X-ray emission than the passage of the original wave alone.
'Sila pupuntahan ko palagi,' Ayo said on his one-two punch of Teng and Mbala.
One explanation, says Kundu, is that the coronal magnetic fields deliver their energy in a one-two punch. First, they accelerate electrons (and other charged particies) to energies ranging f rom 50,000 to 100,000 electron-volts.