roundhouse punch

roundhouse punch

A punch delivered in a semicircular motion or direction, as opposed to straight in front of the person delivering it. The boxer was caught with a vicious roundhouse punch that KO'd him on the spot. You're better off throwing quick, controlled jabs than swinging those wild roundhouses punches.
See also: punch, roundhouse
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

roundhouse punch

n. a punch to the head made by swinging the arm in an arc rather than by a jabbing punch. He let him have a roundhouse punch that would have cracked a two-by-four.
See also: punch, roundhouse
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • roundhouse
  • roundhouse kick
  • be punch-drunk
  • circle
  • land a punch
  • tomato can
  • junkyard dog
  • punch up
  • pack a punch
  • pack a wallop/punch, to
References in periodicals archive
"It was a regular roundhouse punch to the face," Karahalios said.
"I opened the door and she leapt out of her bed and hit me with a roundhouse punch that, had I not blocked it, would have undoubtedly broken my face.
That lighting of the 82-year-old building by Deborah Gottesman, Gottesman Associates, Toronto, packs all the visual impact of, well, a perfectly placed roundhouse punch. "I love heritage lighting.
THE captain of Waterloo RUFC's second team smashed an opponent in the face with a "roundhouse punch", a court heard.
THE CAPTAIN of a Merseyside rugby team smashed an opponent in the face with a "roundhouse punch" a court has heard.
Not content with this forthright jab, he proceeded to mete out a roundhouse punch of pugnacious prose: "Yellow Dog isn't bad as in not very good or slightly disappointing.
Whether or not we like our results, we can view them as life's way of offering us lessons--sometimes with a gentle tap on the shoulder, sometimes a shove, and sometimes a roundhouse punch that knocks us flat on our back.
Slipping a roundhouse punch to the head, Louis dug a fight into the man's midsection.
The great bomb, which harnesses the power of the universe to destroy the enemy by concussion, blast and fire, was dropped on the second enemy city about seven hours after the Japanese had received a political "roundhouse punch" in the form of a declaration of war by the Soviet Union.
Each roundhouse punch thrown was parlayed by an ever-so-slight movement by Kamen.
The label "boxing promoter" conjures up images of Don King: hair standing on end, illuminated in the flashbulb glare of a Las Vegas news conference, 50-cent words flying on a voice that hits the ear with the force of a roundhouse punch.
I would stand back in years to come, a leader of opinion, while Kermit Washington nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich with one roundhouse punch at center court in the Forum in Ingelwood one night; or as Woody Hayes sucker-punched the kid from Clemson; or as boxer after boxer bloodied opponent after opponent; or as Nick Van Exel knocked the referee over the table; or after a Colombian soccer player was gunned down at home after he suffered the misfortune of kicking in an own-goal against the United States in the World Cup in 1994.
Lacy's like a miniature Mike Tyson, everything's a hook, left, right - with big, arcing roundhouse punches. Joe's got very fast, solid hands so he'll go for Lacy with 3-4 right down the middle.
Pie shows the magnitude of the mountain Braddock must climb when a promoter shows Braddock film of Baer's roundhouse punches killing opponents.