punchline

«punchline» in Mova's school dictionary: The last line or words of a joke, which make it funny:… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a punchline, punchlines)

meaning for a pupil

1) The last line or words of a joke, which make it funny: «Wait for the punchline!» tree →

2) The surprising or important ending of a story, speech or advert. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English lessons and everyday fun it is the payoff of a joke; comedians practise timing the punchline. In writing, a strong ending is sometimes called the punchline. Phrases: «deliver the punchline», «forget the punchline», «get the punchline».

examples

• He forgot the punchline, so nobody laughed. tree →
• The punchline of the joke is «Lettuce in, it's cold out here!» tree →
• Wait for it, the punchline is coming. tree →
• She delivered the punchline perfectly and the whole class laughed. tree →
• I didn't get the punchline until my sister explained it. tree →
• The story's punchline was that the ghost was the dog all along. tree →

note

Countable: punchline, punchlines. Also written «punch line» or «punch-line». Do not give away the punchline before the joke is told. «Get the punchline» means understand why it is funny.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «punchline» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.