haymaker

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a powerful, often wide-swinging punch intended to knock an opponent down

   The boxer ducked beneath a wild haymaker in the final round.

2. 2
   noun

   a person who cuts, turns, gathers, or otherwise prepares grass as hay

   Each haymaker carried a rake into the sunlit field.

3. 3
   noun

   a machine that turns or conditions cut grass so it dries evenly as hay

   The farmer pulled the haymaker across the field after mowing.

From Middle English heymakere, a compound of hay + maker, originally naming a worker who prepared hay. The punch sense arose in the 19th century, probably from the broad, forceful swinging motion associated with cutting hay by hand.

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