as in hammering
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1
as in bumping
to come into usually forceful contact with something the car bashed into the tree with glass-shattering force
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2
as in slamming
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner you have to bash that door hard in order to get it open
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3
as in licking
to strike repeatedly the angry child kept bashing her toy with a hammer until it broke
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4
as in attacking
to criticize harshly and usually publicly in all of talk radio no other host seems to enjoy bashing liberals as much as he does
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bashing
Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026 Which seems like the anxiety Chalamet was trying to express with his needless opera bashing. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 Mar. 2026 Several former players have had enough of the Bam bashing. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2026 But Beshear hasn’t turned Trump-bashing into a 24/7 vocation, or a weight-lifting contest where the winner is the critic wielding the heaviest bludgeon. —Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2026 Powell, known for a cool head and a quiet demeanor, has consistently avoided direct confrontations with Trump, even as the president's personal displeasure with the Fed chair escalated from behind the scenes pressure to public bashing. —Nina Totenberg, NPR, 21 Jan. 2026 In the same way that writing had taught me to pay attention to life, to perpetually hoover up sensory details and bits of dialogue around me, trash bashing cultivated a new propensity for seeing interesting possibilities in everyday items. —Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025 Those optics gave Democrats, particularly the moderate gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia, room to run on the economy while largely steering clear of Trump-bashing. —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
Danielle Paquette The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2026 In her testimony on March 24, 2026, Arielle claimed Gerhardt tried to pull her to the edge of a steep cliff before trying to inject her with an unknown substance and eventually bashing her head with a rock. —Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 9 Apr. 2026 But in regulatory filings in recent months, the company has been urging the FCC to ditch the old rules while bashing rivals who are against the change. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026 That edge is compounded by Liverpool’s recent struggles on the pitch, including a recent 4-0 bashing by Man City in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. —Pueng Vongs, Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2026 One such case involved a man in Texas who had the gene associated with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a condition that causes severe intellectual disability and self-harm—chewing one’s fingers and lips, head-bashing, eye-poking. —Jerome Groopman, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026 The move comes just a few months after Mamdani took office, following a bitter campaign season last year that had the two Democrats taking turns bashing each other in often caustic and personal terms. —CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026 Trump’s media-bashing, often a dull roar in the background, is an unusually loud howl right now. —Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 16 Mar. 2026 Paramount declined to comment on the remarks by Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has a lot of experience in bashing the mainstream media. —Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Noun
The target of our petty president’s latest bashing is Pope Leo XIV, the first American leader of the Catholic Church, who seems to be a guy with Midwestern common sense. —Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026 Which seems like the anxiety Chalamet was trying to express with his needless opera bashing. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 Mar. 2026 Several former players have had enough of the Bam bashing. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2026 But Beshear hasn’t turned Trump-bashing into a 24/7 vocation, or a weight-lifting contest where the winner is the critic wielding the heaviest bludgeon. —Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2026 Powell, known for a cool head and a quiet demeanor, has consistently avoided direct confrontations with Trump, even as the president's personal displeasure with the Fed chair escalated from behind the scenes pressure to public bashing. —Nina Totenberg, NPR, 21 Jan. 2026 In the same way that writing had taught me to pay attention to life, to perpetually hoover up sensory details and bits of dialogue around me, trash bashing cultivated a new propensity for seeing interesting possibilities in everyday items. —Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025 Those optics gave Democrats, particularly the moderate gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia, room to run on the economy while largely steering clear of Trump-bashing. —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
Verb
But the data showed his cheesesteaks were very much alive and selling daily by the thousands, no matter who was bashing them online. —Danielle Paquette The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2026 In her testimony on March 24, 2026, Arielle claimed Gerhardt tried to pull her to the edge of a steep cliff before trying to inject her with an unknown substance and eventually bashing her head with a rock. —Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 9 Apr. 2026 But in regulatory filings in recent months, the company has been urging the FCC to ditch the old rules while bashing rivals who are against the change. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026 That edge is compounded by Liverpool’s recent struggles on the pitch, including a recent 4-0 bashing by Man City in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. —Pueng Vongs, Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2026 One such case involved a man in Texas who had the gene associated with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a condition that causes severe intellectual disability and self-harm—chewing one’s fingers and lips, head-bashing, eye-poking. —Jerome Groopman, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026 The move comes just a few months after Mamdani took office, following a bitter campaign season last year that had the two Democrats taking turns bashing each other in often caustic and personal terms. —CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026 Trump’s media-bashing, often a dull roar in the background, is an unusually loud howl right now. —Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 16 Mar. 2026 Paramount declined to comment on the remarks by Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has a lot of experience in bashing the mainstream media. —Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bashing
Noun
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An abduction sequence ties the audience’s nerves in knots with cinematographer Isaac Bauman’s athletic tracking shot loping up the stairs to Margot’s apartment accompanied by Gavin Brivik’s pulse-hammering score.— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
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Yes, Super Mario Galaxy Movie will have all the hammering power of Imax and PLF screens.— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Five years later, Marquinhos was chest-bumping Thiago Silva, his countryman and mentor at PSG, after forcing Mohamed Salah to run the ball out of play at the Parc des Princes for Liverpool.— Stuart James, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2026
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Kansas State transfer tight end Brayden Loftin played in 12 personnel looks with the first-team offense, mainly blocking, but bumping out to the slot, too.— Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Video emerged online showing a red Ferrari shooting out of a tunnel along the highway at a high speed, slamming into a concrete barrier where the road curved and erupting into flames.— Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
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Hamadeh, who won his seat in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in 2024, also spent time in his speech slamming top Democrats with insults.— Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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There’s Cassie licking a melting ice cream cone as the ice cream drips down her bare chest.— Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 20 Apr. 2026
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Your table will be licking their fingers.— Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Be sure that the rear lure always has a hook, as the bass typically key in on the ‘straggler’ when attacking a ball of bait.— Derek Horner, Outdoor Life, 16 Apr. 2026
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Other offences include attacking one victim on September 20, 2006 and another one in September 2016.— Julie Sharp, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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His only Champions League goal arrived in January’s 6-0 thrashing of Qarabag, and his only assists in the competition came in similarly comfortable wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Galatasaray.— James Pearce, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
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Wild video captured the moment a young fisherman plunged into pounding Southern California surf to wrestle a thrashing shark and free it from his fishing line.— Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Stand on the corner banging pots and pans.— Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 15 Apr. 2026
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The Canucks took a 2-1 lead on a power play 52 seconds into the middle frame, banging home the loose puck off Brock Boeser’s shot past Kuemper for his 22nd.— Daily News, Daily News, 15 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But there’s more to at-home extensions than slapping them on the crown of your head and heading out the door.— Hunter Lacey, Allure, 9 Apr. 2026
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That means going beyond slapping a flag on packaging in November.— Peter Su, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bashing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/bashing. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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