as in to stab
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
she deftly harpooned a shrimp with her skewer and held it over the fire
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harpoon
David Matthews, New York Daily News, 4 Aug. 2025
While David padded toward the bow where two harpoons lay ready, Kim throttled down and the Theresa slowly, almost silently, moved in behind the cruising fin.
—Pat Smith, Outdoor Life, 24 July 2025
When activated, the harpoon is ejected, penetrates under the skin, and venom is released.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 11 July 2025
Once the lander’s three legs absorb the landing shock, Philae will anchor itself in the comet’s surface by firing two harpoons while using a thruster to counteract the force of the harpoons.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Nov. 2014
See All Example Sentences for harpoon
Verb
Ali reportedly tried to use a handheld harpoon while trying to access the apartment through the house’s front door before trying to break a window and smash his way inside.
—David Matthews, New York Daily News, 4 Aug. 2025
While David padded toward the bow where two harpoons lay ready, Kim throttled down and the Theresa slowly, almost silently, moved in behind the cruising fin.
—Pat Smith, Outdoor Life, 24 July 2025
When activated, the harpoon is ejected, penetrates under the skin, and venom is released.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 11 July 2025
Once the lander’s three legs absorb the landing shock, Philae will anchor itself in the comet’s surface by firing two harpoons while using a thruster to counteract the force of the harpoons.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Nov. 2014
See All Example Sentences for harpoon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpoon
Verb
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Michael Anthony Arredondo, 34, is charged in suspicion of first-degree murder in the June 2017 stabbing death of 25-year-old Evin Paulos.—
Jose R. Gonzalez,
AZCentral.com,
17 Oct. 2025
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Ellis then turned back to Julian and stabbed him in the back.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Fates still hang firmly in the balance in Africa, Asia and the North America, Central America, Caribbean trident, with several nations dreaming of a first appearance at the sport’s biggest tournament.—
Jack Bantock,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
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Hoosiers can hunt frogs with bow and arrows, clubs, some firearms, or simply, their hands, but Plumier teaches those gathered at Goose Pond how to use gigs — long, multi-pronged spears that look a little bit like tridents.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The 21-year-old conservationist's father died at age 44 in 2006 after being pierced by a stingray barb while filming in Australia.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
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Minutes into Game 3, shovels pierced the ground to dig the Blue Jays’ postseason grave.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Asparagus boasts 89 micrograms (mcg) of folate per four spears.—
Molly Burford,
Verywell Health,
17 Oct. 2025
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As the credits appeared on TV, Breakker hit Rollins with a spear, turning his back on his former stablemate of The Vision.—
Fernando Quiles Jr,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Not on the same scale, but some of the more overheated meme-like stocks have been punctured without much apparent disruption to the large-cap core of the market.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
18 Oct. 2025
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Spiders have venom to subdue prey, but the majority have fangs that are too tiny to puncture human skin.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The retainer then struck her down with a halberd, set the mansion ablaze, and committed seppuku.—
Nicholas Liu,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2024
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Also, his halberd starts fritzing on the floor before fading out of existence, a reminder that this is all virtual reality—or rather, VR within VR, the metatextual framing of Ubisoft’s latest Assassin’s Creed game.—
WIRED,
WIRED,
16 Nov. 2023
Verb
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To their right, a woman raised her hand, jabbing her index finger forward and shouting.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
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Srinivas, who often jabs the search engine giant, made an interesting point.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Make habits stick beyond the season A true lock-in doesn’t end when the calendar turns, the experts agree.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
18 Oct. 2025
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Among the detentions in which allegations have not stuck, masked agents pointed a gun at, pepper sprayed and punched a young man who had filmed them searching for his relative.—
Nicole Foy,
ProPublica,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harpoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpoon. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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