1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

birched

verb

past tense of birch
1
as in whipped
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible students at the private school were once routinely birched for violating the rules

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in licked
to strike repeatedly always a stern disciplinarian, our father birched anyone who talked back

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for birched
  1. whipped
  2. licked
  3. slashed
  4. lashed
  5. flogged
  6. pounded
  7. thrashed
  8. battered
Verb
  • That sort of whipped, inswinging ball from Slater that caused so much havoc is hugely familiar to avid Premier League watchers.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • And that daring move seemed to set the tone for the rest of the night, as Kansas City whipped the reigning AFC West champions 31-10.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of whipped
Verb
  • Tuxedo kitten Paolina bounced onto my chest and licked my fingers.
    — Solvej Schou, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Her entire face got licked clean off her head when suburban floodwaters breached the cardboard hull protecting Kath’s basement memorabilia stack a few months before I was born.
    — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of licked
Verb
  • Christian then lays out the finale’s mandates, which, just like last season, are dramatically slashed down from what Project Runway used to be.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The world's largest oil buyer has slashed its imports after the war broke out, tapping into its stockpiles, keeping a lid on global oil prices and safeguarding its economy.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of slashed
Verb
  • Every night, after Jesus died on the cross, my apostles gently helped me down from the chain-link fence to which I had been lashed.
    — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
  • After the two additional deaths were reported this week, Shapiro again lashed out at Kennedy.
    — Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of lashed
Verb
  • The same day that the nanny allegedly beat Walter, other caregivers slapped and flogged his siblings, including with shoes and wooden sticks.
    — Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 11 May 2026
  • The media flagged and flogged it for AI incompetence.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 25 Jan. 2026
Definition of flogged
Verb
  • The chicken is pounded thin before cooking and, at Le Flâneur, is served with Picholine olives, tomato, arugula, and Parmesan.
    — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Russian overnight strikes also pounded western Ukraine, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of pounded
Verb
  • With a body thrashed by occupational hazards, Hsu, who is forty-four, orients his life nowadays around running Sci-Fi Fantasy, his skate company, and roaming the city to take pictures.
    — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The flooding on the canyon floor started Saturday afternoon after waves of rainfall thrashed Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch – the only lodging under the rim of the Grand Canyon.
    — Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of thrashed
Verb
  • Newcastle were not only beaten, but they were also bullied and battered into submission — physically overpowered and outplayed in every facet.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Close in, a comet is battered by the torrent of the sun's solar wind, which pushes the comet's material away into a distinctive tail.
    — Rahul Rao, Space.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of battered
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

birch
birched
birches
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Birched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birched. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of aggrandize

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All