1
as in whips
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
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2
as in licks
to strike repeatedly
always a stern disciplinarian, our father birched anyone who talked back
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for birches
Verb
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When a dog repeatedly wags and whips its tail against hard surfaces, the tip can split open, bruise or break.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
21 Jan. 2026 -
Benbrook whips Diamond Hill-Jarvis Benbrook stayed on pace for a playoff berth in District 8-4A as the Lady Bobcats thumped Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis 55-7.—
Darren Lauber,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Then, Mitski licks up the blood on the girl’s finger.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
16 Jan. 2026
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After the drill, Ruin rolls onto his back, then licks a reporter's nose.—
Megan Sauer
Tasia Jensen,
CNBC,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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As the skin matures, pores become larger, but Laura Mercier’s Flawless Fusion Ulta-Longwear Concealer effectively hides them.—
Taryn Brooke,
Glamour,
6 Mar. 2026
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And so the buffalo were butchered and sold for their tongues and hides, and their bones were ground and used for fine china.—
Christine Peterson,
Outdoor Life,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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It’s also made with linoleic acid, a natural emollient that nourishes lashes and brows.—
Jenny Berg,
Vogue,
27 Feb. 2026
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Hard Truths premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival and followed Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Pansy, an angry and depressed woman who lashes out at family and strangers, and whose constant criticism slowly isolates her.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Congress slashes taxes, writes stimulus checks, and fattens unemployment-insurance payouts.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2026
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The old formula not only fails to reflect how much Argentine households spend on present-day staples like Netflix subscriptions and iPhones, experts say, but also underrepresents the costs of public services like health care and electricity that have skyrocketed as Milei slashes subsidies.—
Isabel Debre,
Fortune,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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James is staring into the middle distance while Luka pounds the air out of the Spalding for twenty seconds per possession.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
27 Feb. 2026
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In the present, Simon (now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) pounds his car’s steering wheel, driving away from wreckage.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Outlook for runoff remains poor The stakes are rising as the Colorado’s multidecade shrinking act continues to challenge the Southwest’s capacity to water crops and supply cities with reservoir storage that can’t keep up.—
Brandon Loomis,
AZCentral.com,
28 Feb. 2026
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Among those potential moves to appease MAHA would be a ban on pre-harvest desiccation, a process where weed killers are applied to crops before harvest to make harvesting easier.—
Garrett Downs,
CNBC,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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These long straps hang off your child's car seat, acting as an additional anchor point for front-facing car seats and preventing them from tipping forward.—
Andee Tagle,
NPR,
28 Feb. 2026
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The luxurious touch of velvet elevates any look, while the thick straps and flat sole give it a practical element.—
Ana Serrano,
Glamour,
28 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Birches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birches. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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