Paunch \Paunch\, n. [OF. panch, pance, F. panse, L. pantex, panticis.] 1. (Anat.) The belly and its contents; the abdomen; also, the first stomach, or rumen, of ruminants. See {Rumen}.
2. (Naut.) A paunch mat; -- called also {panch}.
3. The thickened rim of a bell, struck by the clapper.
{Paunch mat} (Naut.), a thick mat made of strands of rope, used to prevent the yard or rigging from chafing.
Paunch \Paunch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Paunched}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Paunching}.] 1. To pierce or rip the belly of; to eviscerate; to disembowel. --Shak.
2. To stuff with food. [Obs.] --Udall.
With similar intensity, a few yards away from the ring, another man with a ragged T-shirt over his paunch alternately shadowboxes, jumps rope, and batters a punching bag.
Even though Mr. Velazquez keeps his cards close to his ample paunch, signals abound that Emilio M. Gonzalez, the outgoing governor of Nayarit, is his preferred interim replacement.
But all was calm and serene inside, where the princess watched a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "Falstaff," which tells the story of Sir John Falstaff, Shakespeare's knight of the paunch.