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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in licking
to strike repeatedly
the angry child kept bashing her toy with a hammer until it broke
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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
Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Elon Musk is back to bashing The Odyssey and Christopher Nolan‘s decision to cast Lupita Nyong’o in the epic film.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 13 May 2026
Milei, at odds with the press to a degree unseen since the 1983 restoration of Argentine democracy, has escalated his media-bashing in recent weeks as his flagship campaigns against corruption and inflation falter.
—Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
The combat element of Galactic Racer appears to be mostly centered around bashing into other racers to take them down (the folks at Fuse hail from the house of Burnout, after all), which is another MotorStorm-like wrinkle.
—Adam Ismail, The Drive, 30 Apr. 2026
After Saturday’s incident, the Trumps were furious, with both the president and first lady bashing Kimmel’s statement.
—Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 30 Apr. 2026
But things got wild when the robot started break dancing and bashing itself into a million robotic pieces.
—Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
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
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
Woman-bashing plays well on social media and sells lots of ads for crypto, sports betting, and supplements.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Elon Musk is back to bashing The Odyssey and Christopher Nolan‘s decision to cast Lupita Nyong’o in the epic film.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 13 May 2026
Milei, at odds with the press to a degree unseen since the 1983 restoration of Argentine democracy, has escalated his media-bashing in recent weeks as his flagship campaigns against corruption and inflation falter.
—Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
The combat element of Galactic Racer appears to be mostly centered around bashing into other racers to take them down (the folks at Fuse hail from the house of Burnout, after all), which is another MotorStorm-like wrinkle.
—Adam Ismail, The Drive, 30 Apr. 2026
After Saturday’s incident, the Trumps were furious, with both the president and first lady bashing Kimmel’s statement.
—Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 30 Apr. 2026
But things got wild when the robot started break dancing and bashing itself into a million robotic pieces.
—Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bashing
Noun
-
Wrexham were fourth bottom of the fledgling table after the third of those three losses, a 3-1 hammering by Queens Park Rangers.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
6 May 2026
-
That's the part worth hammering, not that Nike is greedy or calculating.—
Dan Zaksheske OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Drivers trading paint started early as there was bumping coming down the front stretch to take the green flag before Lap 1.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
10 May 2026
-
The Knicks downgraded Josh Hart to questionable with a left thumb sprain on Thursday before bumping him up to probable ahead of tipoff for Game 3 on Friday.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Adam Carolla Adam Carolla has thrown his full support behind Pratt, repeatedly praising the former reality star and slamming his opponents.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
13 May 2026
-
After that news conference, Senate Republicans held their own press briefing, slamming the proposals.—
Jeremy Gorner,
Chicago Tribune,
11 May 2026
Verb
-
Then they got knocked to the ice, stomped on and left licking their feathers after the first two periods of their Stanley Cup playoff game with the Vegas Golden Knights.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 May 2026
-
But host Kristen Kish is licking her lips at the prospect of taking the show even further afield in the future.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
Both sides accuse the other of intentionally attacking civilian targets.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
-
So when attacking midfielder Nick Moon carried the ball down the left wing in the eighth minute, AC Boise bodies began rushing into the box.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Arsenal enters the match as the favorite, but Sporting has been resilient in the Champions League, rebounding from a 3-0 loss to tournament darlings Bodo/Glimt with a 5-0 thrashing in Lisbon.—
Pueng Vongs,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
-
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
Verb
-
Howden doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal 7½ minutes later, finding miles of space just to the right of the goal and banging in a pass from Marner that split LaCombe and Alex Killorn.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2026
-
On Wednesday evening, Associated Press journalists saw residents in numerous neighborhoods banging pots and pans and setting fire to trash cans to protest the blackouts.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Among the plaintiffs, two protesters faced minor charges that were quickly dropped—each accused of impeding a federal officer for slapping the agent’s phone from their hand—while the other two were charged with no crimes at all.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
7 May 2026
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That meant a pre-existing zero-tariff trade environment for exporters on both sides of the Atlantic was overridden, slapping new duties onto Scotch whisky and other spirits sent to America from Britain.—
Chloe Taylor,
CNBC,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bashing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bashing. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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