birching

verb

present participle of birch
1
as in whipping
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 licking
to strike repeatedly always a stern disciplinarian, our father birched anyone who talked back

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for birching
  1. whipping
  2. licking
  3. hiding
  4. lashing
  5. slashing
  6. pounding
  7. flogging
  8. battering
Verb
  • My opponent should be condemning political violence, not whipping it up.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • In whipping rain and wind in New Jersey, the New York Giants held on for a 12-7 win in their first game since quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of whipping
Verb
  • Carter is licking his wounds after the rest of the tribe sent Ana home in a blindside.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Typically, only a low-value male resorts to this behavior, turning to foot-licking as the easiest way to ingratiate himself with women.
    — Tucker Reals, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of licking
Verb
  • The third suspect acknowledged receiving the paintings at his home and hiding them behind a wall built beneath a staircase after the theft.
    — SYLVIE CORBET, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The series brings 10 strangers together in an institutional setting for seven days, with each person trying to guess the true occupations of the others while hiding their own identities.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of hiding
Verb
  • These are just two of the many scenes of destruction the hurricane has left in Hawaii after lashing the state’s western islands with heavy rain, widespread flooding and tropical-storm-force winds on Monday and Tuesday.
    — Liz Kreutz, NBC news, 9 Sep. 2026
  • This week’s meeting of G20 finance ministers underscored rising global trade tensions, with several countries, including the US, lashing out at China.
    — Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of lashing
Verb
  • These next-generation systems aim to extract far more energy from uranium while slashing waste stockpiles.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Right now, Amazon has the TCL Nxtpaper 11 (Gen 2) on sale for 31% off, slashing $90 from its already affordable price.
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • Many spectators watched pounding waves there at high tide Saturday morning.
    — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Guadagnino has always been skilled in his choice of music (Sufjan Stevens’ alt-pop in Call Me by Your Name, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ pounding EDM in Challengers).
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of pounding
Verb
  • The Taliban bans filming in public areas where flogging as well as stoning takes place, but MA says that individuals who oppose the practice have been discretely filming these events, then posting the video.
    — Ruchi Kumar, NPR, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Rubin, who has built a business flogging sports merchandising and collectibles, is renowned for his annual White Party in the exclusive Hamptons, near New York City.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of flogging
Verb
  • The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran’s military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield.
    — Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • That’s because there has been so much flooding, erosion, and battering by extreme winds, and an increasing number of severe and destructive storms.
    — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of battering
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

birches
birching
bird
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Cite this Entry

“Birching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birching. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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