sucker punching

verb

present participle of sucker punch
as in knocking down

Related Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sucker punching
  1. knocking down
  2. pushing
  3. dumping
  4. stabbing
  5. kicking
  6. slashing
  7. flailing
  8. switching
Verb
  • Counter space is the currency of a working kitchen, and homeowners are finding a new way to buy more of it without knocking down a wall.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune Demolition crews hired by the Chicago Bears begin knocking down the grandstand at the former Arlington International Racecourse on June 16, 2023, in Arlington Heights.
    — Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of knocking down
Verb
  • On Frequency of Love, Monét stretches out, pushing the boundaries of the sophisticated, retro sound of her previous album and finding some surprising new angles to her songwriting.
    — Molly Mary O’Brien, Pitchfork, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The Kremlin has banned diesel exports due to the Ukrainian strikes, pushing global prices higher.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of pushing
Verb
  • The account provides helpful context for understanding the public drama of Musk suddenly dumping Shivon Zilis, his most recent partner and the mother of four of his kids.
    — Sheelah Kolhatkar, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
  • This high salt content complicates conventional whey processing, while the combination of salt and a large amount of organic material also makes simply dumping the stuff a bad idea.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of dumping
Verb
  • Dangelo Rafael Jean Caraballo, 25, and Sneider Mejia Bautista, 24, both Dominican citizens, are accused of stabbing off-duty NYPD Detective Jose Mercedes.
    — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Even the worst days doing this are exponentially better than the potential of waking up to my elderly roommate stabbing me in the pancreas.
    — Tim Savage, IndieWire, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of stabbing
Verb
  • And even the kicking game started to slip a little bit on Sunday.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 8 Oct. 2026
  • During the struggle which continues for several minutes, each of the police officers is seen repeatedly punching and kicking Gibson, kneeling on his head, and pulling his hair.
    — Senior Editor, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of kicking
Verb
  • These next-generation systems aim to extract far more energy from uranium while slashing waste stockpiles.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Right now, Amazon has the TCL Nxtpaper 11 (Gen 2) on sale for 31% off, slashing $90 from its already affordable price.
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • The second-best moment came in Ireland to start this season, when UNC held on to beat what now looks like a flailing TCU team in a rematch.
    — David Ubben, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • So, why now, halfway through the first take of the shoot, was Axl flailing his arm like a windmill with his jacket hurling around through space like a lasso?
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of flailing
Verb
  • Lighting, of course, is all-LED, with the headlights coming with daytime running lights, with the system automatically switching between daylight running and low beam as conditions require.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 10 Oct. 2026
  • When Coppola came to film her daughter (who actually shot at the Palace of Versailles), Sofia remembered the documentarian immediately switching into filmmaker mode.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of switching
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.

Browse Nearby Words

sucker punches
sucker punching
suckers
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Cite this Entry

“Sucker punching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sucker%20punching. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

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