1950 of fighters and others deficient in requisite power, from punch (n.1); 1853 of situations in which one might seek a drink in vain, from punch (n.2). Related: Punchlessly; punchlessness.
Entries linking to punchless
punch n.1
"pointed tool for making holes, pricking, or embossing," late 14c., short for puncheon, from Old French ponchon, poinchon "pointed tool, piercing weapon," from Vulgar Latin *punctionem (nominative *punctio) "pointed tool," from past-participle stem of Latin pungere "to prick, pierce, sting" (from suffixed form of PIE root *peuk- "to prick").
From mid-15c. as "a stab, thrust;" late 15c. as "a dagger." Extended from the simple instrument to machines doing similar work; the meaning "machine for pressing or stamping a die" is from 1620s.
punch n.2
type of mixed drink, 1630s; since 17c. traditionally said to derive from Hindi panch "five," in reference to the number of original ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, spice), from Sanskrit panchan-s, from pancha "five" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five"). But there are difficulties (see OED), and connection to puncheon (n.1) is not impossible. Dutch punch, German Punch, French punch, etc. are said to be from English.
The Hind. panch does not seem to occur alone in the sense of 'punch,' but it is much used in composition to denote various mixtures of five things, as, panchamrit, a mixture of milk, curds, sugar, glue, and honey, panch-bhadra, a sauce of five ingredients, panch-pallar, a medical preparation from the sprouts of five trees, etc. [Century Dictionary]