Now their powder would be cannon powder and gun powder, would be made into canister shot, and would propel balls into flesh, and would blow living men to shreds. The whole idea was a gut punch.

Mizuho denied it, but the report was a gut punch for the stock market, where the Nikkei average sank 189 points or 1.5% Wednesday, and retreated another 22 points today to close at 12,607.

So when he died—on June 19, 1986, from a cocaine overdose, two days after being selected No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft—it was a gut punch for the whole region.

The president’s visit to Ukraine was a gut punch to the Russian leader.

Gut punch

Meaning

Noun