To hit someone or something repeatedly and forcefully with fists or a tool.
From Old French 'pomele' (to hit with the pommel of a sword), from 'pomme' (apple or knob). The pommel is the rounded knob at the end of a sword handle used as a weapon.
A sword's pommel was actually a weapon—knights would pummel enemies with it if their blade broke, and the word literally comes from 'apple' because it's round and bulbous like the fruit!
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