Punch in the area of cheek (4)
I believe the answer is:
clip
'punch' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'area of cheek' is the wordplay.
'area of' becomes 'c' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'cheek' becomes 'lip' (both can mean insolence or rudeness).
'c'+'lip'='CLIP'
'in the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clip that I've seen before include "Cartridge container and piece of film" , "Shorten" , "Cut, trim" , "An example of film" , "Fastener - part of film" .)