wielding

verb

present participle of wield
as in exerting
to bring to bear especially forcefully or effectively wields considerable influence in the field of women's sports

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 wielding Word spread quickly, and soon a throng of smartphone-wielding citizens had surrounded the immigration enforcement van, which couldn’t move because one enterprising, early-arriving activist had slid underneath it. — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026 Hansen may be the star of the show, but Andie pulls the strings, wielding her authority with an ever-present smack of chewing gum. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2026 Another portrays him as wielding defibrillator paddles in a hospital room over a patient flatlining from taxes imposed by Democrats. — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026 Police in Florida released tense body camera video showing the moment a sword-wielding burglary suspect was tased by deputies after allegedly refusing to drop the weapon. — Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026 Not just the supposedly existential risk that AI leaders started recently claiming required a slowdown, but also risks from bad actors like hackers or terrorists wielding AI to attack either country’s infrastructure. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026 Over his shoulder was an enormous portrait of the hatchet-wielding temperance crusader Carrie Nation, an icon of resistance to the excesses of the first Gilded Age, when similar discontent had roiled the prairies. — Kyle Paoletta, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026 To me, the two nude figures in languid declination seemed, saliently, to be melting in the heat of a summer day, but their triton-wielding and breast-cupping poses must certainly have also invited debate centuries before. — Scott Laird, Travel + Leisure, 17 Sep. 2026 Despite being the daughter of Hollywood stars Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, the 26-year-old auditioned for the role of the troubled, axe-wielding daughter in the Netflix anthology series (now streaming) like everyone else. — Kalia Richardson, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wielding
  1. exerting
  2. using
  3. applying
Verb
  • With broader crypto legislation stalling in Congress, regulators are exerting their existing powers to address individual parts of the market, said Jeff Ko, chief analyst at blockchain infrastructure service provider ViaBTC.
    — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Trump successfully exerting political control over the Fed would be extremely bad news for just about everyone.
    — Cameron Peters, Vox, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of exerting
Verb
  • And with the National Cancer Institute preparing a major randomized trial of multicancer screening tests using cancer death as the endpoint, the agency should also consider whether approving Grail’s test will impede that work.
    — H. Gilbert Welch, STAT, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The short treatment menu includes facials and massages, using Tribe517 products.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of using
Verb
  • The state should have to individually make cases to collect the money rather than automatically applying liens.
    — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Doing so would entail repairing cracks that admit water, maintaining the foundations of each section, applying a sealant to slow the weathering process, and keeping the encroachment of vegetation in check.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of applying

Browse Nearby Words

wielded
wielding
wields
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Cite this Entry

“Wielding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wielding. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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