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
Relevance
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
Verb
-
The Milwaukee mother who claimed her stepfather threw her baby from a balcony has now been charged with child abuse herself, accused of whipping her younger brothers.—
Drake Bentley,
jsonline.com,
28 Aug. 2025 -
Olbinski ran to his car, while others hunkered down and braved the brutal winds and whipping sand.—
Hayleigh Evans,
AZCentral.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Excluding the pandemic, that’s the slowest average monthly gain for that January to August time frame since 2010, when the United States was still licking its wounds from the Great Recession.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Today, Alabama is licking its wounds.—
Don Yaeger,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Word of the raid spread across the property, triggering a scramble among workers who attempted to flee, with some running to a sewage pond and others hiding in air ducts.—
Caroll Alvarado,
CNN Money,
6 Sep. 2025
-
There’s no Nurse Ratched here, however, but there is the kindly Steve, who watches out for all of them, especially Shy, who is hiding a secret from the others.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The company destroyed a piece of lashing wire that investigators believe slapped an Xcel electrical conductor and caused arcing that led to the fire, said Matthew Delinko with Bauman, Lowe, Witt & Maxwell, a law firm representing insurance companies.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
21 Aug. 2025
-
By Wednesday, videos of waves lashing the homes began to make the rounds on social media.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
And the thump, thump, thumping of her brother’s hands pounding a heavy bag.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
30 Aug. 2025
-
These unofficial remixes, uploaded from unremarkable accounts, create a kind of Satie-esque audio overdose, pounding the band’s melody into abstraction, pure stimulus.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Witnesses and lawmakers wrestled with NASA’s budget priorities, highlighting concern that the administration’s 2026 budget request tilts heavily toward exploration while slashing science programs.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Such reviews have led to companies clearing the deck for new CEOs by slashing top and bottom line expectations, leaving stocks vulnerable to steep corrections.—
Chloe Taylor,Ganesh Rao,
CNBC,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Black Death and its aftermath saw a great resurgence of apocalyptic flagellation, with thousands of adherents flogging themselves up and down the Continent (the movement failed to take off in England, which figures).—
Michael Robbins,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
According to police, Crow and the woman he’s accused of battering live together and were involved in fight about past relationships.—
John MacLauchlan,
Miami Herald,
31 Aug. 2025
-
Outer Banks brace for Hurricane Erin Hurricane Erin's higher tides and big waves are battering much of the East Coast.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Birching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birching. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share